Back in January, Julien “JuJu” Beaumer was relatively unknown when he laid down the fastest qualifying time at the first Supercross Futures race of the year. Unfortunately he cased a triple on the first lap of the race, landing so hard that it bent his handlebars down to his knees. Fans never got to see the showdown between him, Haiden Deegan and eventual race winner Daxton Bennick. His efforts seemed to go completely unnoticed by everyone except for the Orange Brigade KTM team, and one month later he showed up at the second Supercross Futures race on an orange machine. That would be the beginning of a very fast and probably unexpected ride, one that has taken him from a single fast lap in qualifying to a rookie pro season with the full Red Bull KTM factory squad.
Seven months after that Anaheim Futures moment, and taking wins at SX Futures races in Glendale and East Rutherford, Beaumer was one of the favorites heading into the Monster Energy AMA Amateur Nationals Championship at Loretta Lynn’s. MAVTV was there at the ranch to follow all Beaumer’s racing action, as well as the behind-the-scenes undertakings that fans so rarely get to see.
The episode starts off like many do, by showcasing Julien’s childhood. However, most childhoods do not involve racing jet skis! Julien’s father moved to the U.S. from France to work as a jet ski mechanic, and his family opened a shop in Lake Havasu. It wasn’t long before their son was itching to ride himself. JuJu’s mother comments, “Julien was probably two and a half on his first stand up. But he [Julien’s father] did have to do adjustments to the jet ski, he had to weight it because Julien didn’t weigh enough [for it to work].” After lying about his age so he could compete against older kids in the 10–12-year-old division, Julien won his first World Championship at just eight years old.
By this time Julien was also racing motocross, and the cost of racing two different motorsports was weighing on the family so his father told him he had to choose. Water or dirt. After winning the Mini O’s on an 85, Julien he made his choice. And while he continued to circulate toward the front of the amateur ranks, he was never quite there as the breakthrough rider. He was in the crowd, in the field, but certainly not labeled as the next big thing.
The story picks up the week before Loretta’s working with his trainer Davi Millsaps, who is proud of the incredible progress he made in such a short amount of time. It’s with Millsaps that Beaumer made The Leap, in nearly record time, to get to the front. “He went from being mid pack, not really known that well in January to now, everyone knows him,” Millsaps says. “He’s a kid that you are worried about when he lines up on the gate.”
Davi is not the only one impressed with Julien. He impressed Roger De Coster enough to be signed to the Red Bull KTM team for 2024. The SX Futures lap time and wins help, but this is different. It’s not just results, it’s a deeper vision that The Man has seen before. “He has a natural speed, and there are a lot of things that I see in him that I saw in [Ryan] Dungey also, as far as the attitude and wanting to learn, and having respect and not acting like the world owes them.” That is high praise coming from The Man.
We will not spoil the racing action for you, but let’s just say after one of the muddiest Loretta’s in history, Beaumer had his ups and downs. At the end of the week Millsaps said, “Going into this race, 100 percent they all thought he sucked in the mud. I am going to be honest, we all thought he sucked in the mud! The first time I ever saw him ride in the mud was yesterday and I was like, “Man, we’ve got a lot of work to do.” It is true they do not get much rain in Lake Havasu, Arizona but remember his first love was the water. With all the rain they got in Tennessee that week he probably felt like they should have brought a jet ski to Loretta’s.
Did you know that one year Julian actually did that, and backflipped one in the creek?
Beaumer might not have been well known as a prospect a year ago at this time, but the world is starting to see that he’s a special talent. How far can he go in his rookie campaign in 2024? It will certainly be interesting to watch his rise. In the meantime, you can learn more about him and his family in the MAVTV program, appropriately named On The Rise. This is a show following many young talents from throughout motorsports, and it’s good to see Julian getting the coverage.
Julien's On The Rise episode will air at 10:30pm ET/PT as part of a MAVTV Thanksgiving Marathon that starts Thursday November 23 at 8pm ET/PT. There will be an encore presentation of the On the Rise Marathon on Friday November 24 with Julien's episode airing at 10:30pm ET/PT.
Watch the trailer for Beaumer's On The Rise episode:
