HONDA Junior rider Ross Beaton shines in Vic MX Champs

Fifteen year old Ross Beaton from Tasmania only joined the Honda Junior HRA team this year, but he has already shown his extraordinary talents on board the CR125 after winning the Victorian State Titles last weekend.

Beaton rode to a perfect trifecta at round one held at Ararat in April despite getting a flat tyre in moto 1 and only just limping home. The young rider went on to convincingly win the next two motos to take the round outright win.

Whilst Ross was awesome on the 125cc bike, he struggled to find the same form on his CRF250, finishing with two sixths and a ninth place, however his focus remained strong.

At the next round in Maffra, the HRA recruit experienced mixed results as he struggled with a bout of the flu. Still he was able to come home with two 2nd places in the 125cc class.

“I wasn’t feeling too great,” he said. “But I still managed to improve on my results in the 250cc 4-stroke class so I was just happy to come away in one piece and to work on getting fit for the final round at Albury.”

Ross set his sights on taking out the 125cc championship and finishing on the podium in the 250cc four stroke class, with both of his goals coming to fruition.

“Moto 1 on the 125cc bike was run in extremely wet conditions and I knew the start was going to be very important,” he explained. “I pulled the hole shot and rode strong all race to gap the field and finish around 20 seconds in front.”

Beaton took the lead early on in the next moto and rode away to an even larger gap. He finished nearly a full minute in front of the second place-getter

“Everything was going great for the day and in Moto 3, I managed another hole shot and again went on to finish the race well ahead of second place and take the honours. It was awesome.”

In the 250cc class, Beaton was also able to achieve his dream by scoring three second placings, allowing him to move up the results table and finish second overall in the Championship.

“I was very happy with the final round. The conditions suited me because we get lots of rain back home in Tassie. This is the first year I’ve been on a team and I couldn’t have done it without the support of Honda, my Dad and all the great sponsors associated with the HRA Team,” said a very happy Beaton.

Ross will now focus on getting a top three result in the Rookies finals to be held at Round nine of the Motocross Nationals in Newcastle after receiving a wildcard invitation from series promoter Kevin Williams.

Beaton will next be in the spotlight when he competes in the Honda Australia Junior Motocross Championships in Canberra to be held September 25 to 30.

For more information on the MX Nationals, visit www.ozmotox.com

For information on the Honda Junior MX Championships, visit www.actmcc.com