The Manjimup 15,000 winners list is graced by some of the greatest names in Australian motocross over the last four decades, and while Jed Beaton will now see his name engraved amongst those who paved the way for him, his victory in Western Australia on Sunday sends an underlying message to his closest ProMX championship rival.

The CDR Yamaha Monster Energy rider is currently in the midst of fighting for a maiden premier class crown in the Penrite ProMX Championship, so how does a one-off event in WA’s southwest have any relevance to his national title campaign?

Well, as it stands, Beaton trails former teammate and current training partner Kyle Webster (Boost Mobile Honda Racing) by a single point after the first four rounds, where Webster has largely had the upper hand with three overall victories credited to his name.

Image: Supplied.

In fact, Webster’s form, particularly on circuits that are ‘not suited’ to his riding style, has been a key talking point this season, and for him to have that mental edge over Beaton – knowing he can defeat him even at tracks that don’t favour him – has elevated his confidence as the series sits at the halfway mark.

Although Beaton’s win at the 2024 edition of the Manjimup 15,000 amongst a list of ProMX contenders – including Webster – may very well have diminished that mental edge ahead of the series’ return later this month.

“Every race you want to go and win, it doesn’t matter if it’s a ProMX round or not,” Beaton told MotoOnline. “We have that same mindset regardless of what race it is, so it was good for us to tick this one off and stay sharp while we’ve got a month off from our national series.”

Image: Supplied.

Beaton made a slow start in what was a rain-effected day, finishing fourth in the opening moto won by Kayden Minear (KTM Racing Team) before finishing second to Webster in race two. The Tasmanian responded following a third in the elimination final, going on to score a pair of race wins to capture the overall victory.

“I was getting bad starts in the first one and the track was still quite smooth at that point because of all the rain they had to flatten it out from the day before, so everyone was a pretty similar pace at the beginning of the day,” he reflected. “I started to get off to better starts after lunch and after they had that feature race. The track was a little rougher and I started to find it a little better towards the end of the day.”

There’s no questioning Webster was the favourite to win this year’s Manjimup 15,000, which is a feat that he’s yet to achieve, being in the prime of his career, leading the national championship and at a track he’s ridden at since he was a child.

So to come up short in front of a home Western Australian crowd, and to his closest title rival, made the victory all the more sweeter for Beaton and no doubt gives himself an added level of confidence ahead of Murray Bridge’s fifth round of ProMX on 23 June.

“Obviously having Kyle there and him being from WA, he wants to win that race pretty bad being on his home soil, so it was good for me to get this win,” Beaton added. “It’s a big event, probably one of the biggest that we have in Australia. I’ve never been over there before to race it, but I’ve always spoken about wanting to go, so it was cool to go over and experience it and see what all the hype was about.”

The Allstars MX1 overall podium saw Beaton joined by Minear and Webster – who overcame a lap one crash in the final moto – while the Allstars MX2 classification saw Ryder Kingsford (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) emerge victorious ahead of Honda Racing duo Jake Cannon and Noah Ferguson.