The 2024 Australian ProMX Championship was one for the history books as the Kyle Webster and Jed Beaton tied on points after eight ferocious rounds of racing, and Honda Racing swept the four main classes. Zero points. For the first time in Australian motocross history, that was the winning margin of this year’s MX1 ProMX Championship between Boost Mobile Honda Racing’s Kyle Webster and CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Jed Beaton.
After eight-and-a-half hours of intense racing across four states, there was literally nothing between them as both racers wrapped up their campaigns tied on 382 points. Thanks to winning five more motos throughout the season, Webster was crowned the champion on countback, breaking Honda Racing’s long-standing MX1 championship drought that had existed since Craig Anderson last claimed the title back in 2006.
After going toe-to-toe all year and clearly setting themselves as the standout racers of the field (only KTM Racing Team’s Nathan Crawford snatched two moto wins from them), the final two rounds at Gympie’s MX Farm and Queensland Moto Park proved pivotal. Beaton needed to win every moto, assuming Webster finished second, if he wanted to win the title. His mountain got even harder to climb when he went down in the first turn at Gympie and left the penultimate round 14 points in arrears of his Honda rival.
But the drama wasn’t over. During QMP’s qualifying session, Webster went down and tore a ligament in his throttle hand, and he practically lost all feeling in his fingers for the rest of the weekend. As Beaton put himself in the best position possible by winning both motos, Webster had to grit his teeth through the pain, swelling and numbness to a 3-5 result, which was just enough to tie the points up and claim that elusive MX1 championship on countback.
For Yarrive Konsky’s Honda Racing outfit, it was a historic moment. Led by Webster, Konsky’s stable of racers claimed all four of the main championships on offer. Kiwi Brodie Connolly romped to the MX2 crown with a round to spare, Jake Cannon overcame a huge points’ deficit to emerge victorious in MX3, and his sister Charli Cannon again dominated the MXW field.
One manufacturer dominating a season in that fashion hasn’t been achieved since Yamaha secured four titles in 2016. If history is anything to go by, it could be another long period before this success is again matched but the main talking point of this year was the epic red vs blue season-long battle between Webster and Beaton. We tracked them down in the days following the final round to get their takes on a monumental championship.
KYLE WEBSTER
You and Jed went toe-to-toe all year. What was it like being on track with him and how did you find those battles?
I always thought it was good and we’d always race each other fairly. If something happened in a race I can’t imagine it’d be straight-up on purpose anyway. It’s not something I was ever too stressed about, it was always clean, always fair, and we raced each other pretty hard, so I really enjoyed it.
I think that was one of the standout aspects of this year, just how clean you raced, and neither of you got in each other’s face or trash-talked each other. Yeah, we ever really spoke about it, but riding super-aggressively isn’t how I go about things and I don’t really see Jed doing that either. I struggle to be like that, and act all serious all the time like some people want. I see the funny side of things more and try and keep things light-hearted.
You guys train together most days as well, right? If you piss each other off on Sunday, you’re going to be right next to each other again a couple days later.
Exactly. Racing’s racing and training during the week is different. On race day we’re all there to do the same thing, to try and win, but during the week it’s all about practising and we can separate that pretty well.
Training during the week, you’re not really going 110% either, so it’s easier to tick the laps off. When you’re racing there’s a lot more going on, and on the weekends I just try and focus more on what I’m doing. I think if I tried to think about what everyone else was doing, during the race I’d probably end up crashing (laughs).
What do you think was the turning point this year, where you thought “yep, we’ve got a really good shot at this”?
I think the third and fourth rounds at Gillman and Maitland were a good mix of tracks, and I had good weekends and won quite a bit. After Maitland I was like “whoa, I’ve had the red plate for a few rounds and I’m holding it here”. That’s when I thought if I kept the race-by-race attitude I had going on I had a feeling I’d still be at the pointy end of the championship for the rest of it.
You touched on Maitland, from the outside looking in, even CDR were like “oh shit, we don’t even have an advantage on hardpack rounds any more”.
It kinda felt like that to be honest. Other than doing a few Queensland races we didn’t train too much down here on hardpack. This year I feel like the bike was really good and the boys got me really comfortable on the hardpack, which was a bit of a standout for me. I felt everything was clicking and I felt comfortable pushing the pace on the harder tracks. In the past I haven’t gelled with those tracks so much, so that was a big improvement this year.
Take us through your crash on Saturday when you hurt your hand.
In qualifying I came up the hill into a right-hand sweeper, hit a bump and my bike kicked out to the side and I slid out. It wasn’t a huge crash, but I’m assuming my hand hit the front brake lever or something. The pain set in a few seconds after I hit the floor and I was worried about it, but I completed a few more laps to make sure I could still ride.
Even on Sunday, it wasn’t that sore, but it was swelling and that made my hand go numb as soon as I started riding and it was a real battle to hold onto the bars.
After QMP I had my hand checked out and I’d torn a ligament across the top of my hand, and just riding with it so swollen over the weekend might’ve damaged one of the nerves, which is why my fingers are still a little bit numb.
I could only feel my pinky finger by the end of Sunday. I spent a lot of time at RaceSafe that weekend. Jon Park helped me a lot, trying to get the swelling down between motos, wrapping it up with compression and just checking on me throughout the day.
In that first moto at QMP your team-mate Wilson Todd rode a really wide bike and wouldn’t let Kirk Gibbs past, which potentially saved your championship as Gibbsy was coming on strong. Were there any team tactics with Wilson?
There weren’t necessarily any spoken team tactics, but Wilson definitely helped me out. I spoke to him after the moto and he was in the same boat as me and struggling in that race. His arms were killing him and he was smoked, but he did say that he gave things a really good crack to try and stay in front of Gibbs, to give me the best chance of winning. He knew I was struggling the whole weekend. I do appreciate the effort he put in to help me.
You got the lead early of that final moto, but then lost quick positions. Did panic set in, or had you worked through things mathematically?
No, I was alright, I knew I only had one lap in me where I could feel my fingers. Even during the sighting lap they started to tingle, so getting the holeshot was good, but I knew I couldn’t last that long. If I’d tried to ride at that pace I probably would’ve lost my hand, done something silly and hit the floor. If the race had got to the point where there were six of us fighting, I would’ve hung it out, but if I was sitting in the top five and comfortable.
How did it feel crossing the line?
It didn’t really hit me properly until I rolled into the podium area and saw everyone. It felt unbelievable, I was so relieved that I’d managed to hold on and take the win. I was definitely worried that morning, especially after doing the warm-up and Super Pole, and knowing I only had one or two laps in me before my hand went numb.
I feel like I haven’t had a spare five minutes to think about it since, as the two days afterward I was at Brisbane hospital figuring out what was going on, travelling back home to Victoria, getting treatment on my hand, then getting ready to fly to the US to start training for the Motocross of Nations.
With you and Hunter and Jett Lawrence on the team, Australia has their best chance in years of finally winning the Nations this year.
Yeah I’d like to think we have a good shot this year, but anything can happen at a teams event. I’m really looking forward to it, and hopefully putting Australia on top of the box for the first time ever. With the MXoN duties I’ll miss the first round of the AUSX Supercross Championship, but we’ll put some time in then and get into the rest of that season. It’s a busy end to the year.
And you’ve just signed an extended contract with Honda Racing. Does that mean you’re content to stay in Australia and not worry about heading to the MXGPs or the US?
That’s the great thing about [team manager Yarrive] Konsky. He understands that everyone wants to try and have a crack overseas, and he’s always said if something comes up, he’d never hold me back from those opportunities. That means a lot to me but even this year he helped to make everything happen for me to race Southwick and Redbud, and I’m stoked on those opportunities. If we can do that again, I’ll be pumped.
I love the Honda team – I’ve ridden with them since 2016 and there’s honestly no other team I’d rather be with.
JED BEATON
Jed, we’re a few days on from the final round. How are you feeling now about the whole thing?
I’m still pretty devastated about it, it’s a shit way to end a championship and anyone in this same position would be gutted about it too. But after a couple of days, you’re grateful you get to race a motorbike for a living and get to do all that stuff, so it is what it is, you move on to next year.
You finished the season on a high, winning three of the last four motos, that’s got to feel pretty good.
I felt I rode better towards the end of the season. Unfortunately, that crash off the start at MX Farm ruined the championship for me. But you’re right, I finished strong and we can take that into next year. We also learnt what not to do, so if we take both lots of lessons we should be in a good place for 2025.
What sort of things won’t you do again?
At the start of the year I struggled to get into a flow in the first race and took too long to find the rhythm. Also, my starts weren’t as good as Kyle’s, who got 10 holeshots or something this year. That helps you stay out of trouble and would make my racing a lot easier, to be in the top one or two at the start of every race, like he did. I’ll keep working flat-out at that, as it’ll make my days a lot easier if I’m a solid top three starter.
You were really consistent and finished top two every race, except for the P6 at MX Farm. Surely there’s some satisfaction in that.
Oh absolutely, but I also messed up this year thinking I’d be able to make up points at each next round. It’s quite a short series though, so you can’t really afford to think like that as you’ll find yourself in a hole suddenly. Before MX Farm I hadn’t finished outside the top two all year, but I needed more race wins. If I’d won another moto I would’ve won the championship. There are heaps of little things, you look back on a championship like that and think “well, damn, if I hadn’t done that, I could’ve been the champion”.
What happened off the start of that race at MX Farm?
I got a bit of a bad jump, and followed Kirk Gibbs into the first turn. He hit the brakes to square it off, and I clipped his back wheel and went down. It was just an unfortunate racing incident, with no-one to blame. I got up and thought “as long as I’m alright that’s good”, but for two laps I couldn’t feel the outside two fingers as someone had run over my elbow and hit the nerve in the back of my elbow. It started coming right and it got better during the race.
I think that was actually your race of the season. You passed 30 guys in 25 minutes on a track that was super one-lined.
I definitely agree. It was a good moto and I felt really good, but a racing incident at the start proved to be pretty detrimental. If I’d won the championship that would’ve been one of those performances I’d look back on and say that one saved me.
You were 14 points down going into the final round, had you given up hope at that stage?
It was a long shot having a 14 point deficit with two motos to go, especially with the gap Kyle and I usually had on the field. Then he crashed on Saturday and hurt his hand, which made it more entertaining for everyone and gave me a chance to get back into the fight. I knew I needed to win both motos to have a shot, but it’s hard to try and win a championship on behalf of someone else, and just hoping things work out.
Two years in a row you’ve come second, but this year’s gap was much slimmer. How motivating is that for next year to get this thing done?
Last year I struggled more and didn’t have the confidence, so it was more of a surprise to be in contention then, whereas this year I expected to be in the fight. At every round I expected myself to be on the podium, and that’s a whole different mindset from what I had previously.
Is your aim still to get back overseas or are you content to be back in Australia now?
After being on a 450 for a couple of years and feeling comfortable on it, I’m riding it quite well and could be competitive overseas at the MXGPs. At the same time, living in Australia is quite nice and having family around, training with my brother Ross, and life is a lot easier. If the right opportunity came up I’d definitely think about it, but it’d have to be the right one I guess. I’ve done my hard days when I first went there and I don’t want to have to start at square one again.
2024 Penrite ProMX Championship results
MX1
1. Kyle Webster (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) 382
- Jed Beaton (CDR Yamaha Monster Energy) 382
3. Nathan Crawford (KTM Racing Team) 301 - Kirk Gibbs (GasGas Racing Team) 297
- Luke Clout (Empire Kawasaki) 252
MX2 championship standings:
1. Brodie Connolly (Polyflor Honda Racing) 369
2. Kayden Minear (KTM Racing Team) 279
- Ryder Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) 271
- Noah Ferguson (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) 256
5. Alex Larwood (Froth Honda Racing) 247
