Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer made his supercross debut back at Anaheim 1, with an impressive sixth place finish. Since then, he has not been able to match his opening round result, as a rib injury resulted in a mid-season slump. However, he has been able to showcase his speed when he gets a good start. He looked good in Nashville placing ninth at the East/West Showdown. In Denver he had some bad luck once again, going down in the early laps of the main event, but was able to come back to tenth. Our Aaron Hansel caught up with him after Denver to get his take on his rookie season.
Racer X: Julien Beaumer, tell me about your day?
Julien Beaumer: The day was tough. All day I felt like it was the best riding I’ve had all season. I had a good start to the main, but two laps in I got landed on in the longer rhythm section. I went down and came from pretty much last up to tenth. I’m just happy to be out of this race safe after that crash, and I’m ready to go to Salt Lake.
Did you get hurt at all?
My hand is a little sore, but that’s all.
You’re from Havasu, so did the drier, slicker soil suit you better? Is it more like what you grew up riding on?
I don’t know. It was different. The way they put the sand in it this morning was a little odd, and the way it broke down and got really hard at night was different. It’s sort of how I grew up, but this dirt was different for sure.
When you go down early like that, after a good start, is it mentally defeating, or does it make you determined to race back?
It can make you determined, but sometimes you get a little too frustrated. The first few laps I was really frustrated, wasn’t making the best decisions, and it took me too long to get by a few people. I’d say overall I handled it pretty well though, aside from the first couple laps after I went down.
There’s still one race left, but looking back at your season, what do you think of it? If you could have looked into the future at the beginning of the season and seen how it played out, what would your thoughts be? I thought you did pretty well.
I think I’d be pretty happy. There are some things I need to clean up that I’ve been trying to clean up all season. I do feel like I got stuck in a little rut midway through the season. Right before Glendale I had a rib injury and wasn’t able to train off the bike and could only ride a few days. After St. Louis I was allowed back in the gym and I got a lot of my strength back, and I feel like it’s showed these last few weeks. I just need to keep learning. I feel like overall I’ve had a good season, but I need to keep learning.
What’s the plan for the week? Do you still work on supercross a little bit, or are you focused on the nationals at this point?
I’ll ride one day of both.
