Red Bull KTM’s Julien Beaumer had a breakout ride at the first SMX Playoff round. The 2024 AMA 250SX Rookie of the Year has had a solid rookie season, but his second place in Charlotte was his first ever podium as a professional. In fact, before this weekend his best finish in both Monster Energy Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross was a sixth.
So, what exactly happened in the two week break to elevate Julien from a 14th overall at Ironman to finally landing on the podium? Even before the gate dropped Juju felt different, as he mentioned in the pre-race press conference on Friday:
“Once I got back on supercross and started riding these SMX tracks I felt right at home, and I felt a lot more comfortable than I did during the outdoor season. So, I feel strong, I feel a lot stronger than I did in supercross this season. I am happy to be back to supercross and excited to see how these hybrid tracks are laid out.”
Many speculated that it was the SMX track itself that helped Beaumer, as he is known for his supercross skills. In fact, it was his showing at the opening 2023 Supercross Future races that caught the eye of his current team. But after the race in the press conference Beaumer felt his results had less to do with the track design and more to do with how he felt on the bike and his confidence in himself.
“I wouldn't say it came from SupercrossMotocross. I think it was just a matter of showing up on Saturday. I haven't shown up on Saturday all year and just was able to believe in myself today and believe in what I do during the week. So, just being confident in myself and confident in the work we do.”
In the first moto after the restart (due to Jalek Swoll going down on the start straight), Beaumer was able to get into the lead and open up a sizable gap on the rest of the field. That lead held until Haiden Deegan made his way into second and eventually hunted Julien down. A second in the first moto set him up for an overall podium when he was able to hold Jo Shimoda off in moto two for 2-4 moto scores. As well as boosting his confidence, riding up front held other benefits for the young rookie.
“Obviously being up front with those guys, you learn a lot and when Haiden passed me, he had some amazing lines that I had to pick up on. So, just being out there with those guys and seeing where they're going, where I'm a slower, is definitely a big thing to learn.”
In addition to confidence, RedBull KTM crew chief Carlos Rivera added an extra incentive for Julien to get on the podium.
“We had a bet that if I didn't podium moto one, he took my phone away in between motos and then if I didn't podium, I think it was overall, he took my phone away for all the way until next week and then going all the way through the race next week. So, yeah, I definitely didn't want that to happen.”
On the SMX Insider post-race show Carlos had this to say about Julien:
“Definitely for us it's a work in progress for him, he’s been doing really well. He’s pretty much gifted more in supercross than MX. But he’s actually improved quite a bit, and I believe he impressed a lot of people today. He rode well. Secured good starts every time and put himself in a good position… He feels a lot of confidence on the supercross tracks, and I believe this will bring a lot for him, a lot of confidence and believing in himself. That he belongs there. He could be in the top five every day.”
We have seen it time and time again, all it takes is one race, one good result for a rider to get the confidence they need to believe they belong on the podium. Was Charlotte 2024 that race for Julien Beaumer? Will we see him up front again next weekend at SMX Playoff round 2 in Texas?
