EP#70 - Jed Beaton on 2026 season, Supercross and MXoN!

Fresh off wrapping up the 2026 ProMX MX1 Championship, Jed Beaton joins the ADB Podcast for an exclusive look behind one of the most rewarding title victories of his career. After finishing runner-up in heartbreaking fashion in 2024 and seeing a broken femur end his championship charge in 2025, Beaton finally completed the comeback, putting together a dominant 2026 season to secure the crown with a round to spare. 

We also look ahead to what's next, discussing his plans for the upcoming Supercross season, whether he'll represent Australia at the Motocross of Nations, and what it took mentally and physically to overcome the setbacks of the past few years. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

G'day, ADB listeners, before you get into this awesome podcast with Jed Beaton, where he talks about his entire 2026 season, but also what he's doing about Supercross this year, Motocross and Nations, and 2027. We do want to apologize for some average audio in the first 10 minutes of this podcast. We just had some dramas at our end that were rectified after the 10-minute mark, so just bear with us through that first 10 minutes. The rest of it is an awesome chat.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Welcome to the ADB podcast where we talk all things dirt with your host eventually.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

No dramas at all. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

Mate, congratulations. It was a big one out at Conondale. Um can you tell me this was uh kind of three years since you've been back here in the making. Um obviously laughing, they haven't quite gone to plan the last couple of years. Um what was the feeling like when you crossed the finish line this year and wrapping it up like a whole round early? Was it relief? Was it frustration released? Like what was what was the feeling that coming down?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Oh, I mean, it was obviously it's always a nice feeling to wrap up a championship, and you know, it's um yeah, one of them things you don't always often get. So um to finally wrap one up was was nice. Um just having a having a great year like that. And you know, after last year um leading most of the series and and then hurting myself um a week before the last two rounds um was a bit of a bummer, but um yeah, just really happy to get one ticked off and um yeah, great feeling really. Um yeah, it's just uh it's a nice way to sort of you know rebound from the year before and and even the year before that, sort of finishing on equal points and yeah, um tough pill to swallow, but you know, being so close for a few years and whatever, it sort of um I don't know, it's probably shaped me into who I am today as a as a racer and and I think for the better. So I mean, I I believe all things happen for a reason. So um yeah, pretty pretty happy to just uh get that one ticked off.

SPEAKER_04 2:16

Yeah, um you were talking about 2024 when you guys tied on points to up there at Colum, and man, like I mean, for us as spectators, it was just an awesome way to see the series unfold. But I can imagine as a competitor, it's one of those things where you look back through the season and you think, like, what moment could have I got one point somewhere?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Oh, exactly.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

Um you didn't have to worry about that at all. So that was and you know what's funny too. Like I was even saying uh um Danny Hamm and Briggsy on our uh Prom X rap podcast the other night that um it was almost like a role reversal for 2026 because you managed to get through the season relatively unscathed, you kind of just controlled it from the start to the finish it until you won the championship. Um as opposed to last year, where obviously um hurt yourself in a practice crash before Canberra, and you know you had to kind of come back from that. Was there did you start this season and maybe even in pre-season doing anything different to what you had done the previous three seasons racing back here in Australia?

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Uh not really. The only thing that I obviously done was I didn't I didn't uh have as much time because I was coming back from the injury. Um so I started riding like a little bit later um than what I normally would compared to other years. Um and obviously just you're pretty much starting from scratch again after a big injury like that. Um couldn't really couldn't really do much for sort of four to six weeks like other than my rehab in the gym. I couldn't do any other sort of like physical fitness and and stuff like that. So um I would say that was probably the only different part for me. Uh the the effort and and everything like that was obviously the exact same. Um maybe even a bit more, just because I knew I was playing a little bit of catch-up. So um yeah, it was uh it was only really different in that side of things as everything else is sort of you know, same as usual. Um try and have a big big pre-season and then sort of roll into riding and have another have that um sort of on bike fitness start building up. But you know, like getting back on the bike and and just even riding again uh takes a lot of effort at the very start. So yeah, it took me a little bit to build that back up, but once it was up and running again, it was um I don't know, you sort of forget about it pretty quick and get get stuck back into it.

SPEAKER_04 4:42

So for Wanthaggy this year, were you full 100% as fit and healthy as you could be by Wanthaggy?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Uh I would say like I was I was definitely healthy, but probably not the fittest I could have been. Uh I knew I wasn't quite there yet. As before that, like we hadn't raced any races, so I was kind of going in there to go, oh we'll see how see how we get out of this one and you know build build from there. Um but yeah, ended up uh with a strong result and sort of I probably didn't feel the best towards the last like say five minutes of the race, just you know, at a race pace and with all the stuff that happens at the races compared to just a practice track, it's uh a little bit different. So um I didn't feel probably the best until um I'd say Gilman. I was I was probably um up to decent form of being able to like ride the whole race and and not worry about you know the fitness a little bit towards the end. So um yeah, I think obviously with Canberra the track was really technical and when it's when it's technical like that, you just have to be consistent, it's not really a fitness thing, um, where uh sort of Wonthaggy was technical and sort of demanding, same as Gilman. So it was nice to obviously leave Gilman and uh be happy with where my fitness was at from there on out, pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 6:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:08

Um so then uh coming out of 2025, was it a f more physical or a mental thing like getting back on the bike and knowing that you can run at the top and that you deserve to be in that space? What was the hardest thing to overcome from the injury to then go the following year and win a title? Was it physical or mental?

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Um I mean it's a bit of both, obviously. It's like the first the first couple weeks you do riding, you're like, oh, I don't want to touch my leg on the ground, or I don't want to dab me foot or do whatever. But you know, you do that a couple of times, you catch it on a rut and twist it, and I think it just becomes normal after you've done it a few times and and it doesn't hurt. But you've always sort of at the very start got that worry about it, um, thinking, oh, is it gonna be the same? But you know, you just eventually that just goes out the back door. But yeah, um, you know, when we're in the in the full preseason and all the boys are there, we're like pretty much doing race days at the practice track every day. So you get used to it pretty quick, even you know, start start to uh not think about it at all and just focus on what you're actually doing. And I'd say uh I had a quite a big mental shift after I hurt myself, sort of thing. Just um, you know, like the straight after I hurt myself, I'm like, fucking hell, like right now, leading the championship. Why why now? And you know, like what all these things go through your mind. But um, yeah, obviously laying in hospital for a couple of days. I and well, obviously I was in there for a bit longer over a bit of a week because um uh something must have happened with my blood levels went really low, and then they were worried about that and thought I was getting an infection, but luckily didn't. Um but they were just keeping me in there for precaution, and I think that's where you do most of your thinking with that side of things, uh, because you're just sitting there all day not being able to think about anything else or or even do anything else.

SPEAKER_05 8:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Um, but obviously getting home and then like you just start focusing on what are you gonna do next to sort of better yourself and and get better as quick as you can. So um I think that helped me make like a big step mentally um towards even just getting better and trying to you know challenge myself every day, not being at a hundred percent, yeah, and then um yeah, just really a a big mental shift this year and um yeah, focusing on what I'm doing and you know, making that work.

SPEAKER_04 8:42

Yeah. And so do you think that comes from like you know, sitting there in a hospital bag and being able to reflect, or does that come from you know getting older, maturing, understanding uh, you know, what it takes to uh win a championship more, like yeah, what what what how how do you change that mentality?

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Uh I it's that's a hard question to answer because like you always go back and you think, well, if I had a knew knew this earlier on in my career, I I feel like I would have been a lot better and in a lot of different ways, but that's that's always just hindsight, isn't it? It's the same. I think it's it it is a maturity thing, and as you get older you you just think about stuff a lot differently and sort of more logically, instead of just being being worried about shit that doesn't even matter, to be honest. It's um yeah, yeah, I think it's probably a a maturity thing, I'd say, and just an age, age thing. Um, and also just learning off other people and you know, having the conversations that are difficult and trying to learn from it instead of you know getting angry about it or um yeah, just reacting in a in a way that you're not actually making yourself better.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

I think as um elite athletes, you guys like that uh you know, the the to have to mature as at an earlier age than most of us is in the light in the spotlight. And so, like, you know, everyone in any career, whether you're a plumber or a builder, or you're in a corporate job, you you learn and you mature and you grow every year from what you're doing. But the difference is I can do it at the age of 32, 3, 4, 5, or 40, and no one's really going to notice that much. Whereas for you guys, when we've got mics under your nose and cameras in your face and people are listening to what you're saying and they want to learn from what you're saying, um, at the age of 18, it feels like so so often we're like, Oh, do you look back and think I could have done this differently? And it's like, yeah, I was 18. Like exactly, yeah. You know, so hey, um, one of the other big changes, obviously, for 2026 was a new bike. Um, last time we caught up with her was at the launch for the 2026 YZ 450F in at Appen. Um now you had you were only just riding. I think we did see a sneakily get around on a WR 450F there to just check out the track. But um how much was this bike, considering it was largely an all-new bike, different to the previous bike?

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Um to be to be really honest, the bike wasn't uh a crazy change as in feel. Um, we sort of ran uh pretty similar setup to what we did the the year before. Um it was just a few things that were different, like engine feeling, as in power wise and stuff like that, that we sort of just fine-tuned all year to my liking. And um setting-wise for suspension, the suspension and stuff like that was was quite similar. Uh, we done a few days testing at the start of the year, and I mean this year I probably was one of the times where I didn't change my suspension at all, like done two clicks at I remember on just like one race day, and that was that was pretty much it. So um, yeah, you know, I just felt really comfortable with this bike this year, and and like with the setup we've sort of come up with over the last couple of years, and it's nice when when a bike doesn't change drastically and you have to start from zero again. It's when you get the couple of years of you know developing the bike and then having a bike that actually feels like yours, yeah. Um which is which is nice. It's nice.

SPEAKER_04 12:18

Were there any any parts this year um that Dak had on there that were pretty cool, kind of maybe something that us as punters couldn't get?

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Um obviously like suspension. Um the the factory suspensions really tough to get. Um and I think like everything else is pretty pretty achievable, I guess. Um it's more just uh yeah, a few a few different things that you just I guess wouldn't wouldn't uh think or know to get, if you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_04 12:51

Yep. Um so tell us you you you train with Kyle down at your brother's still pretty that's where you're kind of based and where you're training out of. Um yeah, so and you and Queer we've kind of made this uh pretty well known that you and Kyle are good mates off the track and uh you fierce competitors on the track, which is just so awesome to see that there's you know, neither are you gonna hold back, but when the um checkered flag flies, it's all mates. Um same again for kind of this year in terms of program-wise, you had Kyle and a few other guys in and around you down there.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Uh yeah, yeah, all pretty much the same. We always like you know, lose a couple, gain a couple pretty much every year. Um, but most of the guys that uh have been around for a while, they've always sort of just stuck around. So um uh even like the 250 boys like Ryder, the Kingsford brothers, Ryder and um Cade, and then you got Alex, they've been around for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Um we got um Dylan this year who's on the KDM team, and Byron's been around for quite a few years now. So we've had like a solid group of people that have been around for probably you know three to four years, and we all we all actually get along really well, and even the 250 boys, it's um it's nice to just have a an I don't know, like we treat it as a job, so as in work colleagues pretty much. You don't go you don't go to work every day and and love all your work colleagues, but um yeah, I feel like we've got a good group of people, and obviously you have your days where you have a few little you know arguments and whatever, but uh most of the time we're all getting along and and having a good time, and I think that's what makes our group something really um really special. We all work as hard as one another, and you know, we all just go to the races and do our best, and you know, a race day is completely different to a to a practice day, so it's um yeah, it's we all treat it like that. Um we go away and the weekends are the work, and you know, week uh weekdays are also work, but um just treat it with a different sort of attitude and mindset. There's a lot of different things that can occur on a race day that that the outcome is a lot different than going practicing.

SPEAKER_05 15:01

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Um we're all on a pretty pretty basic, you know, level playing field, and you see most of the teams these days have a setup where all their riders are riding together through a facility and stuff like that. So I generally don't think it's a bad thing. I think it's a it's a good thing we all sort of bring our um bring each other up, I would say, if someone's having a bad day and you know you can't really afford to slack off. Um so I think in that in that side of thing it's uh really good.

SPEAKER_04 15:33

So so when you guys train, will you and Kyle do like a moto together? Will you kind of will he sh will will Ross throw a few of you in? I mean you you you're probably well beyond that level of having to do motos like you know, a 17, 18, 19, 20 year old kind of still figuring it all out is. But it when you're training, are you guys doing 30-minute motos together and playing cat and mouse, or is that kind of not really what you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 15:55

Yeah, yeah, well, it's it's pretty much the same, uh it's pretty much what we do most days. Um we all just do like a qualifying same as like a race day, and then whoever's qualifying the fastest will start first, all the way back to I think there's like at the start of the year, there's always more, but generally there's like 17 of us, and we're all just like uh pretty much in stacked order all the way um from yeah, like first to 17th, and yeah, you just start where you qualify and and moto from there on.

SPEAKER_04 16:26

Cool. I've said to Briggsy before. I'm like, it's just such a like strange, but that's that's what's on the outside, it's such a strange dynamic because like if you look at the at the US, like no one's allowed in the dog pound unless you're buddies with the Lawrences and you're you know, I don't know, you're not gonna get in the way on race day, and then you look at Alan Baker's setup, and it's like only XYZ can come along and do his stuff at his place, and you've got Ricky's old. So like I'll it's funny that they're so kind of separated, and I understand there's gazillions of dollars worth of uh up for grabs kind of over there, so maybe they're more protective in for for a lot of that reason. Whereas you look over here, and and Briggsie and I have said this before, we think it's so awesome that like the two best guys in our sport for the last three years since you've been back, um, have have they trained together and they can prove to kids out there that you can be ferocious on the track, but you don't have to be a dick to them when you get off the track and ignore them, etc. You can actually train with them. Um so Briggsie and I have often have said, but like, you know what it'd make a really fun story would be to head down there and and or even somehow get all of you guys on the same microphone at the same time and just talk about how the how it works because it's so weird for us to look at it and go, there's no way that can work, it just can't, but it clearly, clearly it does. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Like, I mean, even with um like you say, all the facilities and stuff over there, they obviously get all their riders and stuff that are on the same team to ride together. Yeah, but you know, like Hunter and Jet, they're obviously at a really good level. Even over there, they're probably they're by far the top level. So and they ride together every day.

SPEAKER_05 18:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

So if if that was the if that was the real concern, I mean Hunter wouldn't be riding with Jet every day to show his cards, and Jet wouldn't be riding with Hunter to show their cards. But they they're obviously brothers, so it's a lot easier, yeah. Uh family-wise, but um I mean at the same time, like I said, when you go to a race day, it's all it's to do with starts, it's to do with track position at the after a few laps, it's to do with a lot of different things. So I think like to go in there and have the mindset of like, you know, oh, I don't want to talk to anyone and I don't want to, you know, be friends with anyone is a little bit of the wrong way to go sometimes, I think. But I don't know, it depends on what makes someone, you know, click on a race day as well. They can, you know, not talk to anyone. So yeah, everyone has their own different different way and different opinion, but yeah, I think it's good. It's good for all of us.

SPEAKER_04 18:55

Yeah, I agreed, mate. It's it shows an incredible amount of humility too, because I feel like it's your brother, and if you know, I'm one of three boys, and if my brother was training my biggest competitor, I'd be like, Whee, you really it's just happening, but but obviously there's no problem, so that's awesome. That's great. Hey, okay, let's talk about um just a couple of things from each round. Uh one thaggy, mate, turned up there, and like you said, maybe not 100% light the the fittest and most dominant you've ever been, but you still won the opening moto by 49 seconds and then 25 seconds, and I think that's a significant margin for round one. Um, you know, we kind of see those margins start to slip out later in the season as either people get hurt and injured or tired. Usually round one, we don't know who's gonna win. Uh, and it's usually a lot closer. Did it surprise you? 49 seconds in the first moto, 25 in the second?

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Um, yes and no. Like, obviously, um we rode the both days there, and Kyle crashed on the Saturday and hurt himself quite bad. And I yeah, like I honestly thought Kyle would be um one of the toughest guys to to battle around there because he obviously um always rides really well there on a race day. Yep. So um yeah, obviously with him not feeling his best, um I sort of just you know went out there and focused on myself and and sort of rode pretty much to my potential, you know what I mean, until the last sort of five minutes of the race. But um I had the I had the gap to be able to relax and still sort of keep at half decent pace and um and keep going in that side of things. But yeah, it's always it's always nice to get a like a rough technical track like that because I feel like um on a track like that and and sort of like a rough technical track, you can make a a big difference.

SPEAKER_05 20:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Um, and that's sort of where those margins would stand out. And then you go to like a race weekend, say um Connondale on the weekend, it's not uh as deep ripped, um, it's a little bit drier, so that the gap isn't isn't anywhere near as big because it's very similar. Yeah um, but yeah, it's nice to have a to have a track bike one paggy that gets rough and it's sort of a bit demanding because it's um you know, you spend all these hours doing testing and and all that stuff and it makes it worth it.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

So um you have an advantage for a nice handling bike compared to others and stuff like that. So um I would say that's probably the the um the recap of that round.

SPEAKER_04 21:32

Yeah. How about um obviously like you to train with with Kyle with Webby, but and so they he know he would have a good idea of how fit or fast you are, but the rest of the field may not have fully understood. So, you know, Ferris was coming back and we didn't know where he'd be, but when you've been training with you'd be going fast, you've got Crawford, who you know back then was on obviously on a KDM and we didn't know what was gonna kind of how fast he was gonna be. Was it important after round one? Did you feel like you you could kind of turn around to them and go? I did break my leg last year, but check out what I just was able to do. And is it like is that a good thing as a competitor to be able to come back from a broken leg, flog them in round one and and prove to them that don't don't discount me this season. I you know it's not gonna slow last year won't slow me down for 26.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Oh, definitely, yeah. That's that was the goal, you know. As um like I said, the off-season, you're just building yourself back up to try and be the best that you can be, and to go out and do that is is always a nice thing, even it's a nice way to start off a series like that, um, and sort of you know, give yourself a bit of confidence shot and and keep it going into the next couple of rounds, it's always nice. Um you know that's what we train so hard for, and and sort of chase the feeling of is winning. So um it's uh yeah, it's always nice.

SPEAKER_04 22:51

Um all right, Canberra was round two, and um I I I'm trying to remember this correctly, but I bel I think from memory you mentioned um after Canberra that you thought you were leading in Moto 2 and you thought Aaron Tanty was behind you when you then you realised someone stuck a pit board out and said Kyle Webster is like he's coming and he's on your ass. Did you was it did you not know that he was coming behind just you can't see were there no section of the track to see the red bike? And did then that make you feel like, oh, I've got to get going here and I better kind of maintain a gap. Was there any did you feel any threat that like he's I know how fast he can be and he's coming?

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Um well I was kind of I was actually really relaxed for the for the most part of that moto because like I said, I thought Aaron was behind me and I had a jump where I could see Aaron at all times, like pretty much. So once I got the gap, I was like, oh, I'm pretty sweet here, I'll just you know maintain this, not take too many risks, and just yeah, keep it going. And in must have been three laps to go or something. Um Kyle must have had a really good lap where he hadn't passed Aaron and also gained enough on me that I didn't see him on that jump. Yeah. And then it wasn't until that pit boarded area was really hard to um see because it uh had straight line ruts down it, so you couldn't even really like look over to your pit board.

SPEAKER_05 24:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

And uh I seen two pitboards come out at the same time, like out of my corner of my eye, and I was like, oh, that's really weird. And I seen uh it was Kyle's one. Oh no, I was like, oh, he must be he must be close enough here. So I took a look back and I actually seen him after that, and I thought, yeah, far out. I better guess um better put pick the pace back up for the last like two laps and sort of try and hold him off. But um, I felt like I maintained that really well. I didn't I didn't freak out that he was there, or I didn't try and go over my head to keep him there. So um, yeah, it was just um I think a um as good as it could have been scenario, yeah. Uh, where if I hadn't have seen that pit board, I probably would have been riding like a second or two or that slower, and he could probably ride around the outside of me in one of the turns.

SPEAKER_04 24:54

So there you go. There you go. I like I like that. Do you ever did do you guys regular get a sneaky look at other pitboards, or was that just random that it happened to be right next to yours?

SPEAKER_01 25:03

No, well, you can obviously see um pitboards and that hanging out when someone's sort of semi-close because the mechanic will just put it out anyway. But um, you normally don't take too much notice of it, and obviously my mechanic was putting it out every lap anyway, but it was just hard to um to even take notice of it.

SPEAKER_05 25:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

Um but yeah, like I said, lucky I caught it out of the preferable vision, otherwise I would have been stuffed.

SPEAKER_04 25:28

Uh okay, Gilman, round three. This was your only dropped round. Well, we're we've got one to go as we're talking, but um yeah, this is the only aside from the the last round where you just won. This was the only round that you dropped until uh Conondale. Um now Dino looked fast uh and he looked like he might have won Moto 1 before a mechanical kind of had him uh saw him not finish that moto uh and then Kyle was able to kind of close out the day. Um do you feel like um did did did Gilman stay with you? Like did was it was it was that frustrating that you know you had the little two two round streak going uh and Kyle kind of I think he he closed to about 12 points in the championship. Was there any frustration coming out of Gilman?

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Not really. I think the the biggest part about that was normally Gilman's a very um weird sort of track, it's a very firm place that looks soft, if you know what I mean. It's a it's a different track, but um before our race, they actually like completely flattened the track. Yeah, um, so like I said, it was pretty pretty everyone was pretty similar. Um and like when a track's not really rough, it is hard to make up time because there's not really that much different that you can do.

SPEAKER_05 26:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Um especially at the level that we're all at. It's um it's hard to make that difference unless there is something that that can make the difference. Like I said, a bike setup is one advantage if you've got your bike set up really nice, but when you're riding a flat track, it almost doesn't matter about your bike setup at all. Um and then uh I obviously started I think third and made the move into second, and I was behind Dean on like uh the second lap, and I saw his bike smoking from the second lap. So yeah, yeah, he was riding really well, but I was also sitting waiting for his bike to sort of you know expire or do something. Um and then I I on a obviously crashed myself, and then Kyle got around me and also made a pass on him.

SPEAKER_05 27:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

And then obviously his bike expired, and I was behind Wilson as well. So um, yeah, I was just I don't know, I just wanted to rebound in the second moto, which I did.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

And um yeah, pretty much uh yeah, didn't mind that. The obviously the second moto was a lot different because it was um yeah, heaps rougher, and yeah, it was uh actually a nice tracker for that.

SPEAKER_04 28:01

Um yeah, poor old Ferris, the mechanical kind of stuffed him. We were I remember watching that broadcast and thinking, like, as if Jed's not looking at this bike going, there's no way that's getting through a whole moto, and you can just kind of take it easy, you don't need to force a pass. Because he was looking fast, he looked like he could you know, we as as spectators, we were like, Oh, finally, okay, someone could potentially run the speed of Jed and Kyle. Do you think, um, do you think he was on the kind of same speed at Gilman?

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Um, obviously in the first race, yeah. Um when and like I said, like I'm not I'm not taking it away from anyone, but obviously when the track's flat, it's uh it's a lot different than racing a really rough track. Yeah um, but he was riding well, and yeah, obviously um, you know, it's always nice when when someone's there battling, and then yeah, in previous years it's been hard to put someone in between Kyle and I to even gain points on each other. So you know, having someone else there um is always nice as well.

SPEAKER_04 29:00

Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it, especially for you and Kyle, is to find try and get someone between you just to extend that gap. Because if you can kind of go, you know, first and second, first and second all the way through, you know, you can run it up to the last round, and and anything can happen at the last round. So yeah, that's a good way of looking at it. Good kind of race uh and I guess championship uh tactics. Um Toowoomba, we're we're off to Toowomba next, and um again, memory serves me correctly, Webster Ferris and Wilson Todd binned it first turn, and I think you you avoided it all. You managed to just get out and go. Um and then Moto 2 Cole came back at you pretty pretty hard to try and uh take that off you. Um when you could see them go down, you knew you already had a slight a bit of a point lead, you knew they were gonna come back to a half decent result anyway. Do you go into cruise mode in Toowoomba, knowing that you don't really need to do much to take the round win, or did you are you still pushing as hard as you can?

SPEAKER_01 29:56

No, obviously I still want to ride to my potential, so I was I was pushing for the first couple of laps to get into the lead and sort of try and build a comfy gap and and manage that. Um and then obviously um Carl retired from the first race, so I knew he'd he'd want to come back and you know do well in the second race. Um and then my goal was to just also win the second race, and he obviously um got the whole shot, and I tried to make a move on the first couple of laps, and uh yeah, I made the move and then sort of just I knew I didn't have to win the day win that race to sort of win the day. But I knew probably how bad Kyle wanted to win that second moto just to get a bit of bit of uh confidence back, and you know, I just tried to make make that not happen and uh keep it keep the uh momentum on my side pretty much, and yeah, I sort of felt like I I kind of managed that race really well as as well. I could hear that there were he was doing a few different lines uh in a few sections, and then uh once I sort of fixed my lines up, I knew it was going to be really hard to pass around there because it was a very one-line track. As many lines as there was, there was one sort of fast line that everyone was doing. So um I knew if I was just maintaining what I was actually doing, um, I should have been okay.

SPEAKER_04 31:23

Um, you guys, again, as like elite racers, you talk about this um whole uh trying to like crush the mindset of your competitor essentially on race day, where yeah, if you know you may not need the win, but if you can make the pass, it just it hurts them. Uh that's a real thing. Like genuinely, you guys will look at that and you'll go, you know what, I can do this com I can do this without you know crashing, or I can do it, do it safely in a sense, and make a pass here and kind of dampen these spirits. That's that's kind of the stuff you guys are playing through in your head while you're out there racing.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

Um probably not while you're out there racing. I mean, when you're out there racing, you're sort of just thinking about riding. It's hard to think about different things in your head. Yep. Um, but I mean, sort of confidence, sort of rolling into the next round and after the race and stuff like that, it's probably a a more thought-about thing for sure. Um But yeah, I wouldn't say I just I wouldn't say it's a it's a crazy thing. It's obviously just everyone's goal is to go out there and ride their best and and win. So yeah, I'm pretty sure that'd be more the mindset of a lot of people.

SPEAKER_04 32:32

And I imagine once you kind of get a flow at that speed to then kind of back it off or start to change lines or look for some of the stuff the lines would actually be a distraction. It's easier to just lock in, yeah. Um hey, when you left Gilman, there you kind of your lead was getting pretty decent, it was pretty substantial. It was it was quite uh clear to us that um you know you're only halfway through a season, and we all know from the previous year that anything can kind of happen. Sorry, leaving Twomba. Um but did you start to think then, oh, this is really mine to lose now? And then if that is what you thought in your head, does the team talk to you about that? Does DACA bring it up with you, or do they kind of like not even want to talk about championship until you're at the the round, Connondale, where you can actually wrap it up?

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Um no, obviously you you still talk about the championship because it's obviously the end goal. Um, so you've got to be smart about it, but at the same time, like you said, if you start riding slower or differently, it's actually harder to to ride or to focus. So um I just I just said I don't really want to hear about it that much. I'll just keep doing my job, keep focused, and you know, we've had motorbikes for a living, like anything can happen like we learnt last year that you know you just you just gotta keep going and keep keep charging, and that's all you can do, really. It's um I didn't do anything different to last year. I just didn't um you know, just didn't um fucking injure myself the the week before the last two rounds, you know. It's uh it's not a um it's not like we just reversed everything and did everything completely different, or it's just the same thing, but just a different outcome.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

Yeah, for sure. Um all right, app heading into Appen. Uh like I said, big points gap. For me, that Appen track was looks rough. It looked brutal. Like the I feel like the ruts kind of got long, there were ruts in every single corner. Um, did you you mentioned before the rougher the better for you? Um so we know your fitness is there, we don't have to worry about um you know uh rut ability in in in conditions like that. Um, did you think looking at the weather, knowing it was going to be Appan, that if you can actually uh come into this round and do what you can do, this is a round where you could actually put a even bigger gap and really like kind of put less pressure on you for the last two rounds? Or will you do you look at Appan like it could kind of go either way? Do you feel like you've got this the strongest rut game, which Appen kind of gave us long rut wet ruts uh in the field?

SPEAKER_01 35:06

Um I I don't know, that's a tough one. It's definitely um my type of conditions. I like that where you sort of have to think about where you're writing, think about the lines that you're gonna pick. Um you know, making new lines to miss all the shit ones. Um I do like those those type of conditions. So um I knew if I got off to a decent start, I'd be alright. And sort of the game plan was just to you know, go and win a couple more races and put the put the check in the bank and keep going with the championship, keep focused and you know. I think I didn't really take any round differently apart from Connondale. Yeah. Um I just had the same same goal every round and and sort of tried to tick the boxes and um yeah, keep it going really until until you didn't have to think about it over overly.

SPEAKER_04 36:06

Yeah. Um uh I can't remember. Did you know, did people everyone know that Webster had hurt himself in America? We did, didn't we, coming into Appan? Were you aware of that?

SPEAKER_02 36:16

Uh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:17

Yeah, I figured that. Oh, I mean, you probably found that before you even trained with him, but yeah, you we knew he was hurt, he had his he had his busted shoulder off the top of my head. Um did that change? Like your tactic around Appa knowing that he just can't be as strong. But I mean you've mentioned before that it doesn't matter who's hurt or whatever else you hear you feel you're hearing, you'll go into each round the same. But hearing that your biggest competitor, the the guy who's behind you in points, has is coming off an injury, does it it must relieve some pressure or not?

SPEAKER_01 36:48

Um not really. Like I like I said, I know that I want to go out there and and win races, and regardless who's in it, I'm still gonna have the goal to win. Um the there was no you know pressure from anyone to say that I needed to go and win and sport. That sort of stuff comes from yourself of just the the want to to win, I guess. Um and yeah, like I said, my goal was to go to every round and just ride to my potential. And um I felt like Appan was one of those days where you just ride to your potential and um you know whatever happens, happens. And that weekend I just happened to win the the both motos and yeah you know put myself in a strong position for the championship and that's kind of that was the goal. And yeah, I felt like I I achieved that one, but didn't overthink it, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I think when you start thinking about sort of that that sort of shit, you start to get in your own head of super overthinking everything that doesn't need to be thought about.

SPEAKER_04 37:56

It's so funny, eh? Because like I look at it and think like, you know, for for C and B graders like me, we just get nervous lining up, let alone thinking about winning the you know biggest championship we've got. And so like I wouldn't be out, I I would just be in my I couldn't get it out of my mind. But I guess I mean, yeah, it's it's hard for me to compare um a punter to where you guys are at. But do you need like um head coaches? Is there someone in the CDR team that helps you guys process and work through how to manage this emotionally and that kind of stuff?

SPEAKER_01 38:29

Um no, there's not not anyone in the CDR team that does that. And I've sort of um I've worked with a few in Europe when I was there and and stuff like that. So I definitely have tools that I use in that side of things. Um, but I'm not specifically like you know, checking in and and uh doing that sort of stuff like week in, week out, or say month in, month out. It's pretty much when you know you feel like you need a bit of a reset and you know, or you're unsure of what you should be thinking at a point, I think you probably reach out and look for it at that point, but it's nothing like super crazy.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

Okay. And so DACA is the as a team manager, uh an owner, um, what's is DACA on the blower to you throughout the week seeing how you're feeling, how's your training going, or does he kind of leave you to your own devices and you know see at the next round, you know what you're doing, kind of thing?

SPEAKER_01 39:26

Uh the first year that I was on the team, obviously we didn't have a relationship like we do now, um, where he probably sort of questioned that a lot more, but now I think he he trusts what I do and obviously what Ross does. Yeah that I don't think he feels he needs to just ring me every day and you know, figure out what's going on or what's happening here or doing this. He's more just you know, sit back, let me do my own thing. Obviously, on race day he's always there and you know likes to um likes to advise what he thinks and everything, which is nice. Um, but it's nothing too crazy or over the top because in the end of the day, we're just we are riding motorbikes, it's not rocket science. Go out there and ride to your potential, really.

SPEAKER_04 40:12

Yeah, yeah. I like that. It's a good approach. I imagine there's maybe some team managers out there that are overbearing and they kind of just always in you. But from every every time we've sat down with Dakar and talked about everything that he that he's doing and what he's about, it seems to be the case that he's pretty, pretty laid back.

SPEAKER_05 40:27

Um, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_04 40:28

Hey, Taraugan and Connondale, then the last two rounds you you wrapped up the title in Connondale, which was a round prior to the final round, but I'm gonna kind of combine them because I feel like, again, watching it as a spectator, they were the two best rounds, Taraugan and Connondale, because we got like we got some of the best racing. Um you guys were just like it was close, it was so close, and it was just awesome. I feel like the tr both tracks offered lots of passing opportunities as well. Um, and we kind of I expected Tarogan to get deeper and more holes in it, and I think like you just said earlier in the interview, that um the fact it didn't get rough probably helped bring everyone a little bit closer together. I I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you expect Tarougan to get rougher than it did?

SPEAKER_01 41:13

Uh yeah, I definitely did because I thought um we had a lot of rain leading into that race, and last year it definitely got like a lot rougher and sort of more technical than what it did this year.

SPEAKER_05 41:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Um, but like you said, it's almost it's nice for the racing and and fan side of things, but like I was saying earlier, it's nicer to have an advantage from you know a good bike setup or being the fittest rider or you know, something like that, that you can sort of use that in your toolbox as well, instead of being like, all right, well, everyone's sort of the same speed. What are we gonna what are we gonna try and come up with here to sort of give yourself a bit of an advantage, which is which is not much that you can do. It's more just uh go out and risk it a little bit more to be to be the fastest. But um, yeah, definitely those those races have probably been a lot closer than um uh most of the other ones, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

Uh between two weeks between Tarragon and Connondale, no were you more nervous in that fortnight than you were any other fortnight, knowing that you could wrap it up at Connondale, surely the nerves climbed or not.

SPEAKER_01 42:19

Oh, definitely it it entered the the mind a little bit, but um I'm pretty focused on what I do, and I mean I was like, uh, you're gonna you're gonna go on you go ride, you go practice no matter what.

SPEAKER_05 42:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

I've done it all year, I've done it, you know, I'm gonna continue to do it, so there is no difference. Um I feel like the more you think about that type of shit, the more chance there is of something happening. Yeah. So I mean, I just stayed focused on the same thing, and you know, the last day of riding, like practicing before the weekend is probably your most nerve-wracking one, especially in the last moto, because you're like, alright, once I'm through this, then I can sort of go on to the race and try and wrap it up. But um, yeah, I mean, I it wasn't anything crazy. I mean, I probably felt like before that moto I should have, you know, calmed down a little bit, but I just was like, oh well, I need to ride normal because uh if you're not at riding to your potential, you're not switched on as much to you know keep it going.

SPEAKER_04 43:21

Yeah, it's funny, hey, because I just think to myself, if I was in your shoes, I wouldn't well, I wouldn't fighty well leave the bedroom. I'd just for the whole two weeks. I'd just be like, you know, I know I've got the the fitness and the skill set, I don't need to do any more training. This thing is like within a it's a millimeter away. I'm just gonna wrap myself in cotton wool until I get there. But yeah, I love that approach that it's like, you know, nah, I you just gotta you gotta keep you gotta keep practicing, you've got to keep doing what you do. So that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

Oh, you gotta keep keep the um keep the pencil sharp type thing. You can't really have like two weeks off of riding and then try and roll up to a race and still do the same thing. So yeah, I mean it's It's it's a bit difficult. Like obviously our races are so spaced out that we do have to practice a lot more. Where I think in in America you can get away with or in Europe, you where you race like three weekends back to back, you can get away with not riding at all, really, in between the races, and you know that you're just going straight to the next race, and yeah, it's not really a drama. So um that's the side where I think it's a little bit harder to manage, but yeah, other than that, it's um no, I don't I try not to overthink shit too much. Like drive yourself insane.

SPEAKER_04 44:31

Yeah, yeah, I like it. And that is an interesting thing I've never thought of is that I guess you're right, if you're just going from week to week, there sometimes isn't that much time to get any training done between rounds. But when we've got you know two or three weeks, sometimes even four weeks, you've got to train and and you know exactly anything in happen training. Um so sorry, uh Conondale, then you'd run eleven of twelve motos coming into Conondale. Um you'd drop one round entirely for the whole season. Surely you thought there's no way if if I if someone had said to you at the start of the season, I'll give you eleven of twelve motos, would have you believed them?

SPEAKER_01 45:06

Um well that's a hard one because you never know until until they're done. So uh you're never gonna tell someone they're gonna be right or wrong before it's even happened. But um, you know, I felt confident enough to go out and win races this year and you know try and get a lot under my belt. Um, and that was that was the goal. So um I wouldn't have I wouldn't have said to someone, oh, are you dreaming? But um I definitely had the confidence myself to to go out there and you know chase that. Um it was sort of on me to make that happen or not, not someone saying that, you know what I mean. So um no, it was it was a nice um yeah, nice run, nice run of wins and um sort of a just a strong championship. And I look back on it probably uh towards the end now, and I'm like, yeah, it's it's not often that you you're gonna do that, so enjoy it and you know, um sort of soak it all in, and you know, I can say, oh I'm my goal's the same next year, but we're all not gonna know until we go racing again next year what's gonna happen. So yeah, um yeah, we'll we'll uh enjoy this one while we can and and while we're at it. So um just lap it up. It's um yeah, it's nice to have a strong year year like that.

SPEAKER_04 46:33

Um so Briggsy and Hammy and I were speculating for Connondale. Did you were you racing to win, or were you uh racing to win the champ win the round, or were you racing to win the championship? Because we felt like Moto one, you were racing to win when you had that little low side coming out of the corner um on that in that left hander, and you kind of spun out, and then moto two, we felt like you caught up so quickly to that top three, and then were happy to kind of sit there. So can you tell us was were you thinking I'm gonna win this race or I'm gonna win this championship?

SPEAKER_01 47:07

Um I definitely think in the first one I was just I was just going for a win. Like um, I was in a good position. I thought, alright, I have a spot where I can I can make a pass. And uh I reckon my day would have been a lot different if I had won that first moto.

SPEAKER_05 47:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:23

Um, because I probably would have gone to the second one just going, I want to win this one too.

SPEAKER_05 47:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:28

Um, but obviously with that small crash after I got up after that crash and I knew I was third and sort of didn't really have anyone pushing behind me, I was like, I'll just relax here and I don't need to do anything crazy. Um, and then pretty much almost in the second one, I got off to a decent start, and I was like, I'm in a position where I can wrap it up. I don't, you know, need to do anything. Um so the first like probably three laps, I was just you know happy to sit where I was. Yeah, and then um obviously, yeah, I seen myself catching those guys um like probably three laps into the race, yeah. And then I thought, oh I might as well sort of have a go here, and then uh got onto the back of Kyle um sort of after one or two laps, and then yeah, I mean it was it was pretty tricky because the track was really dusty, so in a lot of spots you actually couldn't really see too much. Okay um and then the shadows were quite bad, so I was sort of getting in my own head going, oh the track's a bit sketchy, maybe we'll just fucking finish it off here and you know, wrap wrap up the important thing and make sure, make sure I actually get it instead of go to next weekend and you know have that stress. But um yeah, I I think like I said, if I hadn't sort of won that first motor, I probably would have um sort of went differently in my head, and I probably would have put a lot more effort into that second race, but you know, I was I was um content with you know finishing and and wrapping up the championship.

SPEAKER_04 49:10

Yeah, mate, 3-3, you didn't need anything more than that to wrap up the championship, so it's it's pretty impressive. We were thinking like when you're low-sided in that first moto, I was uh Hammy and Briggsie and I were like, oh fucking you imagine what DACA would have been going through his head like on the mic, what's he doing? You don't tell him to do anything stupid. Anyway, but it sounds like everything you've talked us through is that you know it's um all part of it. You can't can't hold back. He's also not a over over-protective, over, yeah, over-precious kind of team boss either. So um, yeah, it's cool. It's cool as well. We kind of talked about this Honda Yamaha rivalry, it's built so well over the last like five years with it switching back and forth between manufacturers as to who's taking out that, and so it's cool, cool to see Yami, Yummy pinch one back from the Honda guys, and we know they'll be back next year with a solid team, same as you guys. Um hey, okay, so let's talk about upcoming stuff and bits and pieces. Um uh MX of Nations, Supercross. Uh, what are you do you know what you're doing? Are you ha able to say what your plans are for the next three to four months?

SPEAKER_01 50:13

Uh yeah, I'm I'm planning on going to uh America on Thursday after Q and P and do the last three there.

SPEAKER_05 50:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 50:21

Um then I'll obviously come back for a little bit. And um, yeah, I I don't think the nations team has been fully selected yet, but pretty confident we should be on that. Yep. Um and then we'll go obviously to France and race nations and then try and sneak in a little bit of supercrossing between sort of that stuff and come back here, and we'll have four weeks or pretty much three and a half weeks to get ready for um the supercross that'll kick off um in November, pretty much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:01

So you don't miss round one of Supercross?

SPEAKER_01 51:03

Oh, I should have gone at the um, yeah, I will I will miss the uh Townsville one, but that's like a no scoring, no point scoring event. So that won't have like any implications to the championship.

SPEAKER_04 51:15

Okay, okay, I was on road.

SPEAKER_01 51:18

Yeah, so um I think MA released released a thing saying that it wouldn't be a scored uh championship round, so it's more just a show up.

SPEAKER_04 51:29

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, okay, alright. So MX and Asians, um, we'll see who they select there. It's gonna be pretty hard to look past uh what you've achieved this year. It would have been interesting. You you probably don't remember, but we chatted about this last year after um that YZ 450F launch. If you think being on a Yamaha and being with the Lawrence brothers at MX and Nations would be more challenging. Now that um possible uh equation has been removed with them telling everyone they're not gonna do it this year. So so obviously um you know we we we assumed you'd put your nomination forward and that it's gonna have to be yourself and we'll see who else they select. But it would have been interesting to see what they would have done, yeah. Coming I think you said last year, you just hope they pick and you believe they would just pick the person who is the fastest, and you you are the fastest we've got. So um yeah, it would have been interesting to see what they did. But uh what how does it look, MX and Nations for the team? Do they send uh I mean, obviously you'll be on a 450. Do they send your bike over to France? Do they send just parts and then you pick up a bike over there? Do you know what that would look like?

SPEAKER_01 52:31

Um I for for right now, um I'm actually unsure. It's sort of out of my my um expertise, I guess. Yeah, um obviously you would get take a lot of stuff that suits you anyway, so I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure they would plan on sending one of our bikes, I'd say, just because it'd be logistically easier than trying to organize stuff to to get over there or to take over. So um yeah, I think I think that's almost the plan, but um, yeah, fully um not really in my pay grade to um to uh yeah, organize or say what to organize and that side of things. I'm pretty sure that'll be just uh whatever will be the easiest for um Ma to do, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 53:18

Yeah, for sure, mate. Uh and supercross then. Um you missed Supercross last year because you were hurt. Um how are you feeling in terms of like and you obviously won't get all that much practice for Supercross getting going over to the US and racing motocross in the US and then going to MX of Nations? Um do you feel like is there enough time to come back and adjust to Supercross? You've been doing this for so long. Is the adjustment a lot quicker and easier than you know an 18, 19, 20 year old?

SPEAKER_01 53:45

Or um yeah, I I mean I guess so. Like I feel a lot more confident going into Supercross knowing now that I've already done it. Yeah. Um it'd be a lot different if it was the the same as last time, where I hadn't raised Supercross for like 10 years or so, and I just was sort of unknown and I didn't really know what I was getting into. Where um I feel like um because I've been through a season of it and I know what to expect, it'll be a lot easier to just jump into Supercross and you know I can start on the settings that we finish with and and just stuff like that. Um, it'll make the transition a little bit quicker than what it probably would have taken me. So um yeah, I feel confident enough to get into it straight away and go racing.

SPEAKER_04 54:32

Cool. Uh did WSX guys, I mean, CDR's locked in with Aussie Supercross, but do any of these other random teams come knocking, especially Yamaha affiliated teams? I mean Supercross, obviously, like you said, you didn't get the chance to race it last year or anything else, but they don't you there was no discussion around WSX, only Aussie Supercross?

SPEAKER_01 54:49

Um no, not really. I mean it's it's just it's a difficult one because obviously their first rounds and stuff are just in between a lot of things. And like obviously the last few years they've had a few rounds where they're actually clashing, so yeah, um it's hard to even sort of organize all that, if you know what I mean, where yeah uh I feel like if you're gonna race WSX, you almost need to make that your priority championship.

SPEAKER_05 55:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 55:17

And if you're sort of on the Oz Supercross side of things, it's hard to just switch and change um everything up, which is yeah, obviously the hardest thing, to be fair.

SPEAKER_04 55:28

Yeah. Um 2027 stuff. Uh you you guys typically all sign uh one, sometimes two-year deals. I can't remember what you said if yours is you got extended last year. Is it uh extended out to 2027? We we'll see you back on a CDR bike next year.

SPEAKER_01 55:45

Uh yeah, definitely. You'll see me on CDR again next year. We signed uh two more years in uh 25, way through 25. So it was 26 and 27.

SPEAKER_04 55:56

Yeah, cool. Okay, so nothing will change. That's awesome. It's gonna be exciting because yeah, there'll be uh Kyle, we assume we'll be back on a Honda. Looks like uh Nathan Crawford will be there uh too, potentially as well, with Wilson Todd now calling it quits on racing. So we're we're up for another big year next year, which is gonna be exciting. Um okay, mate. That's awesome. Thanks, uh, thanks so much for jumping on the phone with us today and just talking about the 2026 season. Like I said, congratulations, mate. And and it was really awesome to see um yeah, on the podium who you you know, you being able to thank your family and also being able to um yeah, give this one up to your old man who uh we're sadly passed away. So it was it was just awesome. I think it was a real good, like feel-good story. Um, and motocross, especially in Australia. I feel like we've had some really good feel-good moments the last few years, and this was just another one. So, mate, yeah, congratulations. And we're gonna be up at QMP for this last round, so we'll come say hello and we get to watch you ride around. Hang on, do you ride around with 14 or number one? How does this I can't?

SPEAKER_01 56:54

Um I actually I haven't even thought of that. I don't I don't really know. I I would assume 14 because obviously Kyle has has the number one. Um, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't get told to go back, or I wouldn't get told to change my number for the last round. So I'd say it's just all uh all pretty casual, same as usual.

SPEAKER_04 57:15

Yeah, 14 it is with a red plate, it'll be red with some gold in it, maybe. But um that'd be pretty cool. Uh all right, awesome. Thanks, Jed, for coming on, mate, and we'll catch up with that Q and P.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

No worries at all. Thanks for the kind words, appreciate it.