Image: Foremost Media.

Penrite Honda Racing newcomer Kyle Webster has indicated that testing with KYB suspension was the key takeaway from his brief visit to America.

The MX2 title favourite linked up with the American arm of Penrite Honda Racing in the States, where he managed to ride twice in a week-long stay.

Despite the relatively minimal bike time, the 23-year-old believes he made headway in his suspension development, and is now awaiting the arrival of an updated KYB set-up to use locally in Australia.

“I think it was a good experience to be there and see how they do it,” Webster explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “I’m really happy with my program here in Australia, so it’s hard to see where I could make it better.

“But, I ended up doing some suspension testing with KYB over there, so my bike’s handling really well and I’m looking forward to getting it back here – I think that will make it better.

“I’m not too crazy about suspension set-up, and those guys do it every day, so it was cool for me. I rode Pala and State Fair, so they were two completely different tracks – I found the bike worked really well at both them, and that’s what I’m looking for – I want my bike to be able to work well everywhere.”

Webster will race rounds two and three of the New Zealand Motocross Championship before Horsham’s opening round of the MX Nationals, scheduled for 4-5 April.

Image: Supplied.

French teenager Brian Moreau has undergone surgery to repair a fractured vertebra following a serious incident in the opening 250SX East practice at Tampa’s Monster Energy Supercross round on Saturday.

According to information released by TLD Red Bull KTM this afternoon, Moreau is currently in a stable condition and is awaiting further information from doctors regarding the extent of his injury.

The Moreau family released an update on Sunday morning via social media stating: “Hit in the vertebrae, Brian had surgery last night at Tampa hospital. Surgery is good and Brian woke up. He is currently in intensive care, but doctors will not be able to decide on his condition in several days. Brian is a very brave and strong boy and is aware of everything!”

TLD Red Bull KTM owner Troy Lee commented: “Brian is a very tough kid and we know he will tackle this injury and do whatever he can to make a full recovery. Everyone at Troy Lee Designs and KTM are fully supporting his recovery every step of the way.

“I want to also thank both Marvin and Mathilde Musquin for all the support they have given Brian from the very first day he showed up in California. Mathilde has been at the hospital with Brian since his crash and has been amazing to work with during this difficult time.”

A former EMX125 champion in 2017, Moreau was a regular in the MX2 World Championship last year and scored multiple top 10 results prior to attracting the attention of TLD Red Bull KTM. He has also been a fixture at the off-season supercross events in Europe during recents years.

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A podium result at the Mastercross Lacapelle Marival in France has reassured Romain Febvre as he plots a return to the MXGP World Championship after his 2019 campaign was shortened due to injury.

The Frenchman, who’s made the high-profile move to Monster Energy Kawasaki Factory Racing for 2020, broke his femur at the Uddevalla grand prix in August last year.

Febvre made his Kawasaki debut last month in Italy, where he scored 14-11 race results. The former world champion has gone onto make significant improvements at the French pre-season event, recording a 6-2 scorecard for third overall, finishing behind Jeremy Seewer (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) and Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

“It’s a great feeling to have such a strong day with good starts, good lap time and podium results,” said Febvre. “We have worked a lot with Jacky [Vimond] and I have made a lot of progress since Riola three weeks ago.

“I love my KX450-SR and we saw today that I got good starts even if this one here is really short to the first turn. I can say that tonight I am reassured – now we’ll go back home and practice on several different tracks to be ready for Matterley Basin.”

The opening round of the MXGP World Championship is scheduled for 1 March at Matterley Basin in Great Britain.

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A runner-up result at the Mastercross Lacapelle Marival event in France has offered Jed Beaton a timely boost of confidence ahead of the 2020 MX2 World Championship.

The Tasmanian rode strongly throughout the French pre-season race, going onto record a 3-2 scorecard for second overall behind Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle.

The podium has put the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing entry in a positive frame of mind for Great Britain’s season-opener in two weeks’ time, the Australian bouncing back from an injury-riddled 2019.

“I’m pretty pleased with the way today went,” Beaton commented. “It’s really nice to get to race a pre-season event that’s not super wet and is in good condition and has good grip. The two motos went well enough for me. In the first race I didn’t get the best of starts, I think I was down in fifth or sixth before getting up to third.

“I stayed there for quite a few laps, before the top two guys got into the lappers. It got pretty intense there for a while and I was able to close up a lot. Third was a good result. I took a little while to get into a rhythm in the second race although I was in second for most of the time.

“I felt like I rode a lot better in the second half and to finish second overall is positive ahead of the first GP in a couple of weeks.”

Fellow Australians and Team Honda 114 Motorsports teammates Nathan Crawford and Bailey Malkiewicz were fifth and 29th respectively in the MX2 category.