After a promising start to his first full MX2 World Championship campaign that saw him claim a podium finish at Portugal’s fifth round, Jed Beaton’s season came to an abrupt halt at the British grand prix when a horrific crash saw him suffer breaks to his left tibia and fibula, along with a broken right ankle and a number of broken ribs. The Tasmanian-native has since returned to Australia and is just weeks away from riding again. We caught up with him for this latest instalment of Fast Thoughts.

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Recovering from dual leg injuries…

It’s obviously not a very good injury – it’s quite challenging to be able to walk normally again – I’ve still got a bit of a limp solely because I broke both legs. Normally when you break one, it’s usually pretty easy to start walking again as you can put most of your weight on the good one. I don’t really have a good one, so it’s taken a while to start walking properly again – it’s all been building muscle. It’s been challenging, but I feel like it’s been going pretty good. Even my physio – Jon Park – is pretty happy with the progress I’ve made and the range of movement in both legs. I think it’s moving along quite well.

Getting back on the bike…

I just saw the surgeon today, and he said in the next few weeks I should be able to get back into it because he’s happy with how everything has healed. So I shouldn’t be too far away, actually!

Being in Australia…

I’ve enjoyed being home, but I know I’m home for the wrong reasons. I’ve been watching the GPs – it’s been a bummer and I wish there racing. It’s been good being home, but I feel I should there racing. But I always enjoy my time at home – it’s good to see my friends, family and my girlfriend and her family. It’s always good to see everyone.

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Returning to Europe…

I think I’ll be going back in the next week or two to get all my stuff sorted over there. I’m looking quite forward to it to be honest.

Australia’s 2018 MXoN team…

I think they picked a pretty good team this year. They had a few injuries and stuff like that, but I think they’ve picked the best team. Mitch [Evans] is riding really well and he finished second in the championship, [Kirk] Gibbs would’ve been right up there in the championship if it wasn’t for his injury, and Hunter’s been going really well in the MX2 class at the last couple of rounds, so he’s a really strong pick. I think we have a decent chance of going well.

Plans for 2019…

I’m definitely going overseas for the next few years. I can’t really say what I’m doing, but I’ll definitely be overseas for the next three years.