Slaw
Last September, Red Bull KTM’s Julien Beaumer suffered a burst fracture in his back at the first round of the SMX Playoffs. While lying in the hospital, he had a decision to make regarding surgery.
“I wasn’t going to fuse it and I was going to go the longer route and Ian [Harrison, KTM team manager] and the team were okay with that and we knew that it was going to be hard and there was really never a guarantee that I was going to line up at Pala,” said Beaumer after round 2 of Pro Motocross at Hangtown.
The longer route meant Beaumer would miss the entire 2026 Monster Energy Supercross season and even Pro Motocross wasn’t a guarantee. Yet, through two rounds of Pro Motocross, the decision appears to be paying off, as Beaumer led laps in the second moto at the opener at Fox Raceway and followed it up with his first career Pro Moto podium with a second at Hangtown.
“I think I’m a little bit surprised,” he admitted of his early success.
Not many had Beaumer pegged as a title contender after such a long layoff, but he’s right in the thick of what—for now anyway—appears to be a wide-open 250 title chase.
Sitting just 14 points back of points leader Seth Hammaker, Beaumer talked about his podium, his recovery and more after Hangtown.
Julian, welcome to the 250 podium, your first one. You’ve kind of been there all year. The starts have been decent, and you were in the mix today; it got you on the podium. So, are you happy with the start of your season? And considering the long layoff?, are you surprised to be up here already?
Julien Beaumer: Yeah, for sure. I think I’m a little bit surprised. Coming off a nine-month injury, you never know where you’re going to be at the first round, so Pala was good. And again, rode good in qualifying. Moto 1, I got a good start and was up there from the beginning, and in the second moto, I was partially in that first turn pile-up. Thankfully, I didn’t go down, but I was stopped for a while, so that was the first time I’ve had to really come through the pack in an outdoor moto and show where I’m at. That moto really was a good thing for my confidence, knowing I can come through the pack, and I’m hyped to get going again in Thunder Valley.
I was talking to Ian Harrison last weekend after you podiumed in the motos, and they were just gushing basically about the process you’ve been through, about how understanding you’ve been. The team basically sat down, decided after the injury to have the material removed, and they basically just kept talking about you guys trusting each other and trusting this time to get you healthy and everything. And Ian commented that many younger riders typically rush back and don’t really take the time to get healthy. Can you talk about the process you’ve been through? Because again, a lot of us haven’t seen you since SMX last year, maybe people don’t fully know what you’ve been through.
It was definitely tough. I mean laying in the hospital in Charlotte, we had a lot of decisions to make and thankfully I had a lot of good people in my corner, the team, Jimmy, everyone was very understanding and we made a decision in the hospital in Charlotte that I wasn’t going to fuse it and I was going to go the longer route and Ian and the team were okay with that and we knew that it was going to be hard and there was really never a guarantee that I was going to line up at Pala. The people I had around me, the doctors, Doc G, trusted in everything. It was really reassuring. The team told me from the beginning, take your time, we believe in you, just do this thing the right way. We don’t want it to have a long-term effect on you.
And I went in to do my second surgery on April 2nd, and I called Ian after I got the CT results before, and he was like, I basically told him like, “Hey, we can do the surgery, but there’s no guarantee it’s fully healed. We don’t really know.” And he said, “We’re not worried, do it, do the surgery.” And I said, “All right, let’s do it.” So I remember the first day I got back on the bike, after that I was like, oh, thank God we made that decision. So no, I’m really happy with the way they handled it. I handled it, and everyone in my corner handled it, and I think it’s proven to be the right decision.
How’s the back feeling?
Pretty good. I mean, it’s a little sore today. I felt like, because the track wasn’t ripped as deeply, it was a little choppier and bumpier, so I’m definitely going to feel it a little tomorrow. But it’s good; It’s been good for a little bit now, and I’m really happy with the way everything’s going.
Photos: octopi.media
