There was plenty to like about the Yamaha Racing effort at round five of the 2026 ProMX Championship, held at Appin over the weekend.
Despite a wet and rutted track and morning rain making conditions tough for both riders and teams, Yamaha Racing came away with three race wins, a 1-2 finish in the MX1 class a podium position in MX2 and maintained their lead in the MX1 and MX3 divisions.Monster Energy CDR Yamaha – MX1
It was a commanding performance from the CDR Yamaha team with Jed Beaton and Aaron Tanti dominating proceedings at Appin with a 1-2 result in a sensational day’s racing.
Jed Beaton is on a roll in 2026 and at the top of his game. The double race win in challenging conditions at Appin over the weekend now means that Beaton has won four of the five rounds contested so far and nine out of the ten motos completed and holds a massive 54-point lead with three rounds remaining.
Beaton put on a clinic over the weekend and navigated a rutted, wet and technical course with ease and finesse. He carried momentum through turns, positioned himself well on the track and when he needed to make moves to get to the front, he did it with precision.
“The track was tough this weekend,” Beaton begins. “The small amount of rain we have just made the ruts a bit longer and deeper and the layout here has off camber turns, so it’s always a technical track to ride.
“I was able to start fairly well today which was important as vision would be an issue, but it was Tanti who the holeshot man over the weekend. Congrats to Aaron, he was riding well and to have us both up here for a team 1-2 is a great result for everyone and something to be proud off.
“We are back in Victoria for round six, so looking forward to that and trying to keep this season rolling along nicely,” Beaton ends.
Aaron Tanti openly states he likes hard pack tracks, and the Appin circuit is certainly that. He also cut his teeth at Appin as a junior rider, so he went into the weekend confident of a good result.
And he achieved exactly that. He started well in both motos and was up front early before Jed Beaton sailed by. But to Tanti’s credit, he didn’t let Beaton go and was able to keep him in sight for long periods during the motos as the duo sped away from the rest of the pack.
Tanti’s 2-2 results gave him second for the day and the points haul saw him move to just one point out of second place in the MX1 championship.
“I’m pretty happy with the weekend and how I was riding,” Tanti explains. “I gave myself every chance of getting a good result as I got good starts and pushed hard early to try and get away.
“But Jed is riding so good at the moment and was able to get around me and get a small gap. I wanted to hang onto him as long as I could and try and learn where he makes his time and what he does, so it was good to see that firsthand.
“It was also good to make up some points on Kyle and now we are just one point apart with three rounds to go. I feel like I’m building again as a rider as I have been able to keep putting laps and races together so hopefully that can continue all the way until the end of the championship.”
Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha – MX2
Noah Ferguson picked up where he left off at the previous round in Toowoomba with a dazzling performance in moto one at Appin. Ferguson started just outside the top five and maturely worked his way through the field to gran the lead with 10 minutes to go on a wet and slippery track.
From there, with no roost in his eyes and some clear track, he left the field in his wake and moved out to take the race win by 30 seconds over his nearest rival. It was nothing short of impressive and another window into just how fast Ferguson can be.
In race two, again he had to move his way through the pack after starting the race just inside the top 10. He sliced his way through and at the halfway stage was zeroing in on the rider in second place when he grabbed his foot in a rut and lost some flow.
Then two laps later, as he was working his way through lappers, a rider fell in front of him and he was left with no place to go and went down himself losing a few more positions. He crossed the finish line after an eventful race in seventh place and his 1-7 results saw him round out the day in third place.
“I’m happy to be on the podium for the round and get another race win, but a little frustrated as I left the round win slip away in race two. I did all the hard work and got into second place but then it unravelled a little and made some mistakes and then got caught with the lapper.
“But we made some progress again and the last two rounds have been a big step in the right direction. The goal now is to keep the trend going for the final three rounds.
“Thanks to the team for a big effort today. The bikes came bad from practice and race one pretty muddy and heavy and took a fair bit of washing, so the guys had to work hard to get them turned around. Thank you.”
Souya Nakajima started the day out with a personal best in qualifying land in P8, his best so far. The Appin circuit does have some similarities to the tracks he races on back in Japan but with constant drizzle falling in the morning, the track deteriorated quickly and left Nakajima struggling to find his qualifying speed.
He started well in both motos and put in 100% to stay near the front on each of the 25-minute races. Unfortunately, he crashed in both races and that saw him lose positions, but he continued to fight all the way to the finish.
He ended the day with 12-11 results and plenty of Australia soil testing, but he continues to learn and experience all conditions in Australia, and he is developing well as a racer.
“I didn’t pick good lines today,” Nakajima said. “That was the biggest thing I struggled with on the track. “My starts were good and I was happy with P8 in qualifying, but when the rain came in race one, I didn’t choose the right lines on the track and made a lot of mistakes that led to crashes.”
Monster Energy WBR Yamaha – MX3
The weekend threw up plenty of challenges for the WBR Yamaha team in the MX3 division but despite the issues faced, Hayden Draper still holds a 30-point lead in the championship with three rounds remaining.
Draper finished with 6-3 results on his way to fifth on the day. He battled bravely all day, overcoming average starts and small crashes in each moto to salvage decent points and not let too many slip in the championship chase.
“The track was tough today, but I made it tougher as I never got great starts, so vision was hard, then I crashed early in race one when the track was at its wettest and it made it difficult to move forward.
“But if that’s a bad day and I was able to keep my lead around 30 points then I will take it and move onto the next round and get things back on track at Traralgon.”
Teammate, Jack Deveson, rounded out the day in 10th place after an up and down day. He finished moto one in seventh place and moto two was outside the top 10, but both marred by falls in the sticky conditions.
Deveson sits in sixth in the championship.
“The team and I put in a lot of work since Toowoomba, so it was disappointing that the results didn’t show the effort everyone put in. But it won’t stop me from working hard to turn my season around and finish the last three rounds off strongly,” Deveson said.
GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing - 65 Futures
The weekend was also the second round of the 65cc Futures class with GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing having Hudson Francis, Stella Harding and Archie Blanchette on hand.
Francis was the best placed rider finishing second for the day with 1-2 results in the two races contested. It proved to be the perfect turn up for Francis with his next event is to contest the World Junior Motocross Championships in Europe at the end of the month.
Stella Harding finished the day in fifth and had she not crashed; the result could have been much better. Harding charged to 5-6 results and continues to show up the boys.
Archie Balnchette found the conditions difficult, and they were for the 65 riders as they had the wettest track and the light rain to contend with. Being one of the youngest in the field, Blanchette will continue to learn and gain experience with the bigger tracks and high-profile events.
Next event on the ProMX calendar is round six of the championship at Traralgon in Victoria on July 11 and 12.
