Image: Supplied.

Australian contender Jed Beaton says he’s ‘gutted’ by missing out on a podium opportunity at the weekend’s fifth round of the 2019 MX2 World Championship hosted in Mantova, Italy, where he crashed out of top three contention in the final encounter.

The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing talent, who has two career podiums to his name in the world championship, charged to an impressive moto one result of P3 in rain-soaked conditions.

His plans for a season-first appearance on the rostrum were derailed in race two, as the Tasmanian crashed heavily in a patch of mud while vying for position in the top three. He remounted to salvage a spirited P17 finish, granting the number 14 seventh overall.

“All I can say is I’m gutted about yesterday,” Beaton stated. “Third in the first moto and battling for a podium position in the second moto, hit a mud patch and went down hard. Waking up today feeling like I went two rounds with big Mike Tyson, but we good.”

The performance still marks the former Australian MX2 champion’s best result of the 2019 season after he missed the season-opening round in Argentina with multiple vertebrae fractures.

Compatriot Mitch Evans (Team Honda 114 Motorsports) wound up just shy of the podium in fourth overall, lodging an 8-6 scorecard in the demanding conditions. The win was ultimately taken out by reigning world champion Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).