Three weeks before the Weston Beach Race, Jak Taylor had barely turned a wheel in two years after a lengthy injury layoff. Three weeks later, the 21-year-old Welshman stood on the podium at one of the world’s most gruelling beach races alongside British Motocross Champion Conrad Mewse and multiple World SuperEnduro Champion Billy Bolt.
It was one of the great underdog stories of this year’s Weston Beach Race. Jak had barely raced in two years, had only just been cleared to return to riding, and had bought himself a 450 just weeks before the event, yet somehow finished third against some of the sport’s biggest names.
For Taylor, a plasterer from South Wales, the result was almost impossible to comprehend, especially considering that simply finishing the race would have been enough to make him happy.
“I have hardly ridden at all for two years, until the last four weeks. I went riding at Apex on my bike, and I just thought, I feel alright, and my knee feels strong. I’d had a scan in hospital and some physio, and just after I went riding on the 250, I had the results, and they said I could start back riding. So I went and bought a 450 on the Monday. I trained on it for a bit, and then I entered Weston, and thought, let’s give it a go.
“So three weeks later I went into Weston, and I would have been happy with a top 20. I would have been happy to even just finish it, I’ll be honest. And then it was just crazy!”
A Promising Career Derailed by Injury
While Taylor’s Weston performance might have surprised many, those who followed his progress through the youth ranks will remember a rider who had already shown plenty of promise.
He represented Great Britain in Australia during his youth career, but admits that it wasn’t until his 125cc days that things really started to click.
“I wasn’t really standing out much on the 65s and 85s. In my last year on an 85, I got the chance to go to Australia for Team GB, and that was really cool for me and my family. Then I went onto the 125, and it was a bit slow at first. During COVID, I started training because I had nothing else to do. I remember the first round of the British Championship. I was on a KTM 125, and I qualified first. I came out after qualifying and I just couldn’t believe it. Motocross has been so serious for me since then.”
READ MORE: WESTON BEACH RACE NEWS
Unfortunately, just as Taylor was beginning to establish himself, injuries started to interrupt his progress. His last proper British Championship appearance came in 2024, during his first season in MX2, and a planned comeback in 2025 ended almost as quickly as it had begun.
“I think I’ve done one British Championship in the last two years. The first round in 2024 was the last proper race I did. When I came back in 2025, I decided to go two-stroke. We were just going to have fun that year because I’d had a year off and hadn’t really done much.
“The plan was to build up from local races and then probably do a couple of British Championships towards the end of the year. I was doing a local race at Monster Mountain and I was leading. I think it was the second lap, and I dabbed my foot in a corner. My knee just popped, and I knew it wasn’t right. I went for scans and it was my ACL. That was pretty much the season done.”
Another year lost, another lengthy recovery and another frustrating period watching from the sidelines. Which makes his Weston result even more impressive.
“I Was About 150th Going Down to the Gates!”
Despite having almost no race preparation, Taylor arrived at Weston ready to give it a go. But before the race had even properly begun, things looked like they might go wrong.
“I thought my race was over at the start because I had to run to my bike. I’d been told I was meant to be seeded, but there was a miscommunication. I was going down to the gates in about 150th, and then I got to the bottom of the first straight and I was fourth!
“I couldn’t believe it. I was like, wow, how have I done this?”
Suddenly, Taylor was right at the sharp end, but he wasn’t getting carried away.
“I knew the race was long. I knew I had the speed to run with the top boys, but I just didn’t think there was any way my fitness could do it because I’d had so long out of it. I would have been happy to come out of there in the top 20. I just wanted to take it step by step.”
As the laps ticked by, however, it became clear that he had the staying power and speed to stay at the sharp end.
“An Hour Into the Race and I’m Still Fourth!”
With his grandfather and uncle helping in the pits, Taylor began to realise that a good result was within his grasp.
“I wasn’t riding good at all for the first hour or hour and a half. My speed wasn’t good or anything. But at the first pit stop, I came in and my grandad and my uncle were like, ‘You’re in fourth!’
“I think Billy had just got past me, and they said I was fourth. I was like, an hour into the race and I’m still here, this could be good! I was getting pit-boarded saying I was fourth & fifth all race, and I was with Reece Jones a lot of the race. I thought, I must be doing pretty good.”
“At the last pit stop I came in, I’d just gone into third, and as I came in, the person who was in fourth overtook me, so I was back in fourth. I came out of that pit stop thinking a podium was on the cards.”
“If you look at my lap times, the last four or five laps, they were my quickest laps. I think I was running just over the quickest or second-quickest lap times in the last couple of laps of the race. I just couldn’t believe it. It was crazy, and I knew the only other two people on the podium would be Billy and Conrad, and it’s mental to share a podium with them.”
“I Did Get Quite Emotional”
For a rider who had spent so much of the previous two years injured and on the sidelines, the emotions of that final lap were understandably overwhelming. Taylor had gone from wondering when he might be able to ride again to securing the biggest result of his career.
“Going down that straight on the last lap, knowing that a podium was in my hands right now, I did get quite emotional. Then coming across the finish line on the last lap, with all my family and friends standing there shouting over the barriers, that was something else.”
“I think a lot of people had forgotten who I was going into that race. I’ve obviously had my local sponsors helping me a lot, but I think everybody had kind of forgotten who I was.”
“Doing an ACL is one of the biggest injuries, and is a lot to come back from, so to do Weston three weeks from getting back on a bike is pretty special.”
Could Beach Racing be the Future?
At just 21, Taylor still has plenty of time to make his mark in the sport. And his Weston performance has certainly reminded people of his talent. While his Weston podium might have appeared to come out of nowhere, Taylor has actually enjoyed considerable success on the beach before, previously winning Weston in the youth ranks on an 85cc machine and again on a 250 in 2023.
And with British riders increasingly finding opportunities to compete at a high level in the French beach racing championships, Taylor is now exploring whether that could be an option for him too.
“I’ve always been good at beach racing. I’ve won Weston twice before. I won it on an 85, and I won it in 2023 on the 250. The first thing I did after Weston, to be fair, was get in touch with someone involved with the French beach races. But they fill up so fast. They’re still trying to get me into Dunkirk.
“People have been on the waiting list for months and haven’t got in, but they did say because I’d done well at Weston, there’s more of a chance.”
“The first thing my grandfather said to me after the result at Weston was that we need to get into one of these French races, see if I like it, and maybe it’s something we could do.”
“I’m Not Really Sure What My Plans Are for Next Year”
Despite the incredible result, Taylor isn’t getting ahead of himself. No team deals are on the table yet, and he admits he hasn’t made any firm decisions about his racing plans for 2027.
“Nothing’s come up yet. I’m not really sure what my plans are for next year, to be honest. I’ll see how the winter goes and how the training goes. Get back on the 250 for a bit and see how I feel.
“Hopefully, I will do the Hawksone International and see where the speed is, because I know I went well at Weston, but going back to a racetrack is completely different again.”
“Maybe I’ll go to Holland for a week or two training on the 250 in the sand, because down in Wales there’s nowhere really to ride in the winter.”
For now, the future remains open. Whether Taylor returns to British Championship motocross, explores the French beach racing scene or combines the two, his Weston performance has given him something to build on. And in true underdog fashion, after sharing the podium with Mewse and Bolt on Sunday afternoon, it was back to work as a plasterer on Tuesday morning
“I was back on the trowel Tuesday morning after Weston! It was a killer!”
Huge congrats to Jak on an incredible result, and we look forward to seeing where his career takes him next.
