The Altherm JCR Yamaha team has revealed Australian Jed Beaton will be riding in the MX1 class in the upcoming New Zealand motocross season.
Beaton rides for CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team in Australia and will be replacing current MX1 Champion, Altherm JCR Yamaha’s Maximus Purvis, who is recovering from knee surgery. PWR Yamaha rider Tommy Watts had previously switched over to the motocross team from his cross country background, but he also picked up a knee injury while training and is in recovery mode.
Altherm JCR Yamaha’s female motocross rider Amie Roberts is out too, with the same knee injury as Watts.
Purvis is well on the way to recovery and is expected to be back riding in autumn, with Watts and Roberts returning to training by late winter.
Team Manager Josh Coppins says it’s been a tough year in terms of injured riders but the team will be back to full force before the following 2024/2025 motocross season.
“That is part of the sport and we need to do the best that we can in terms of our riders’ recovery. We have managed that process and we are thankful for the relationship with CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team and Yamaha Motor Australia, as they’ve done a co-lab deal with Yamaha Motor New Zealand and Altherm JCR Yamaha, so we are able to make use of Jed as a replacement rider.”
“We had to look internationally for cover over this current season and we are grateful that our Yamaha counterparts could help. We last had an Australian rider come over in 2020 when Kirk Gibbs rode for us and won the MX1 Championship for our Altherm JCR team,” Coppins says.
Aged 25, Beaton will begin his stint with Altherm JCR Yamaha at the Woodville GP (January 28), and stay on for the Yamaha Motor New Zealand Motocross Championships’ first round (February 3). Then he will fly back and forth across The Ditch for the remaining rounds.
“Jed comes from the MXGP circuit and has great credentials. He has raced in New Zealand before and knows half the tracks he’s going to be competing on. Having only just started with CDR, he is excited to get going with Yamaha,” Coppins says.
“We are hoping to help progress him into the Yamaha family and improve his skills, so he is up and running for when the Australian Motocross Championship starts in mid-March. We can’t thank CDR enough for helping us out in these difficult times. Having Jed means we have a strong contender for the MX1 title this summer,” he adds.
Beaton’s teammate is Oparau’s James Scott (#108), who is in his second season with Altherm JCR Yamaha and has been working hard to prepare for the MX2 championship. He started out with the team in 2022 when Brodie Connolly left to pursue his international aspirations.
“We are looking forward to a full season with James this summer. He’s had a great lead in to the season with MX2 class wins at MX Fest and more recently at Summercross,” Coppins says.
“Although it’s a slightly reduced team because we also let our junior rider Cole Davies out of his contract to head off to overseas duties, we are looking forward to strong performances over summer. Both guys are ready to go and we’ve put in a lot of effort in terms of the bikes and the team structure. Altherm JCR Yamaha has provided the best programme for these guys to do the best job they can to retain some championships,” Coppins concluded.
