Round four of the 2024 Penrite ProMX Championship proved to be a difficult one for the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team with Dean Ferris unable to compete after a practice crash and Jed Beaton missing the round victory when he tied on points at the end of the days' racing.
Perfect conditions and a well presented, hard pack track greeted the riders and teams at Maitland as round four got under on Saturday and in a slightly different format. The event was run over two days and three races to complete the round giving riders the chance to lose and gain ground in the championship hunt. That was the case in every class, except for the MX1 division, where Jed Beaton and Kyle Webster came into the round separated by one point, and left, still separated by one point. Over the course of the weekend, Beaton used ultra consistent moto scores of 2-2-2 to amass 66 points, while Webster finished with 5-1-1 to also total 66 points, but he gets the round win thanks to the higher finish in moto 3.
Beaton was again on the pace in qualifying, taking pole position and the first choice of the start gate across the three motos. Each race had a similar vibe to it, with Beaton charging his way forward to hit the lead in the early laps, then to slip back a spot at the mid-way point each race before battling all the way to the finish.
His consistency across the series so far sees him in second place in the championship at the halfway stage, but he knows its time to get some race wins on the board and make things happen in the final rounds.
“The whole weekend I just felt a bit off,” Beaton starts. Nothing bad and certainly not taking anything away from Kyle or Nathan who are both riding well, but I just didn’t gel with the track as well as I would have liked. I struggled here last year, and this year was certainly a big improvement, but I feel I could have raced better and been able to grab a couple of moto wins this weekend.
“The championship is tight, and we still have four rounds to go, so its time to step up and get some race wins and put myself in the best possible position to win the championship. The next two tracks we race are ones that I like and have done well at in the past, so I will bring lots of focus and energy to them and see if we can get on a bit of a roll in the back half of the year,” Beaton ends.
Unfortunately, the weekend wasn’t good for the current MX1 champ, Dean Ferris, who fell in the first practice session of the weekend and was unable to race. It was a heavy hit that saw Ferris lay motionless on the track as track marshals rushed to him.
He was taken to RACESAFE and then onto hospital for further evaluation. He was concussed from a head hit and then when assessed in hospital, they detected some broken metatarsals in his hand.
Under Motorcycling Australia protocols, Ferris must remain off the bike for 12 days before gaining a clearance to ride, but the hand injury will exceed that so he will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks has he recovers.
“I’m doing ok but pretty disappointed as I was really looking forward to this round and getting my season back on track,” Ferris stated when he returned to the track on Sunday. “I raced well in Toowoomba a couple of weeks ago, won here last year and felt the momentum was beginning to build again for me.
“I recall feeling good on the opening laps and then started to pick up the pace when I jumped the inside after turn 3 and it felt like I clipped the dirt mound that marked the track and it then spat me over the bars. I recall the landing seemed pretty violent and it took me a bit to get my head together but I was fine by the time I was on the way to hospital and was able to remember what happened.
“The aim now it to get myself fit and heathy again and target the last three rounds of the championship for when I return,” Ferris ends.
Round five of the ProMX is headed back to South Australia and the Murray Bridge circuit about an hour out of Adelaide.
ProMX Results
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ProMX Results
Rd 4 - Maitland
MX1
1st Kyle Webster – 66
2nd Jed Beaton – 66 (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team)
3rd Nathan Crawford – 65
4th Kirk Gibbs – 54
5th Luke Clout – 52
6th Todd Waters – 44
7th Brett Metcalfe - 41
8th Zac Watson - 39
9th Joel Evans - 33
10th Luke Zelinski -29
MX1 ProMX Championship Standings
1st Kyle Webster – 202
2nd Jed Beaton – 201 (Yamaha YZ450F)
3rd Nathan Crawford – 176
4th Kirk Gibbs – 148
5th Luke Clout – 146
6th Todd Waters – 142
7th Brett Metcalfe – 121
8th Dean Ferris – 104 (Yamaha YZ450F)
9th Zac Watson – 99
10th Joel Evans – 93 (Yamaha YZ450F)