It was an intriguing start to the 2018 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC), season for Rounds 1 & 2 at Gympie QLD. The day featured a number of interesting results as the sprint tests were won by Daniel Milner (E3), Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders (E2), Luke Styke (E1) and Michael Driscoll (EJ). Milner and Sanders times in particular were outstanding today and took the attention of the crowd.
E3
Maintaining his perfect record since 2017 was Daniel Milner of the KTM Enduro Racing Team who was as impressive as we’ve ever seen him. Milner defeated his rival Kane Hall (Yamaha mounted) by a convincing four minutes and 55 seconds. Motul Pirelli Sherco Team’s, Andrew Wilksch had a steady day lodging a top three position. Wilksch will be looking to elevate his position and take the fight to Hall tomorrow. Broc Grabham and Jesse Lawton completed the top five. Milner’s rivals will need to up their game to take the fight to the reigning champion. Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team rider, Lachlan Stanford was was relegated to eighth, after receiving a five minute penalty for deviating off the course, giving him an accumulated time of 1:23:48.113.
Milner sharing; “It’s great to start the year off with a win that’s for sure and pick up where we left off in 2017. It was hard race today and I pushed as hard as I could. The bike was unreal, there’s always areas where we can improve but its hard to complain when we have collected the win. We’ll try to improve the bike for tomorrow and go from there.”
E2
It was an impressive return to AORC competition for Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders, registering a win for the Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team. Chucky was immense in the opening three tests but had an unfortunate fall mid-day. Despite missing out on a significant amount of time, ‘Chucky’ still chalked up the victory. Finishing a further 79 seconds behind was Active8 Yamaha Yamalube’s Racing Team’s Josh Green. ‘Greeny’ who is looking as fit as he has ever been, rued missing out on the win, but will likely come on strong for tomorrow’s sprints. The top three position went to last year’s E3 Champion, Lyndon Snodgrass who didn’t get off to the best start, ‘Snoddy’ will be looking to take the fight to rivals Sanders and Green tomorrow. Stefan Granquist came fourth on his Yamaha. Former A4DE and AORC champion, Chris Hollis was mighty on his Suzuki Machine, registering a fifth-place finish on his return.
E1
Delivering an outstanding victory for Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Team was former Motocross Champion, Luke Styke for the first round of the season. It was a battle between himself and Jack ‘Simmering’ Simpson on his KTM. Styke really coming into form in the second half of the day. In the end, eight seconds separated the two E1 rivals at the finish. Coming in third was the ever impressing Nic Tomlinson on his Yamaha, a podium placing being a sensational way to get the season started. French talent, Jeremy Carpentier (Yamaha MX Store Ballard’s Off-Road Team) finished in the top four, with Thomas Ravenhors (Yamaha) completing the top five. Husqvarna Endruo Racing Team rider, Fraser Higlett was was relegated to ninth, after receiving a five minute penalty for deviating off the course, giving him an accumulated time of 1:24:28.746.
EJ
Reigning champion, Michael Driscoll was simply unstoppable on his Yamaha, and has really staked his claim to go back to back this season. Coming second was Husqvarna mounted Joshua Brierley, who finished a further 97 seconds back. Brierley is a highly rated young prospect, so we can expect him to take the fight to Driscoll soon enough. Coming third was Corey Hammond, riding a KTM machine.
E3 Provisional Results
1. Daniel Milner (KTM Enduro Racing Team) – 1:16:27.993
2. Kane Hall – 1:21:23.975
3. Andrew Wilksch (Motul Pirelli Sherco Team) – 1:21:37.613
4. Broc Grabham – 1:22:35.077
5. Jesse Lawton – 1:22:36.187
6. Jamie Robins – 1:23:08.878
7. Thomas Mason – 1:23:23.649
8. Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) – 1:23:48.133
9. Adam Giles – 1:26:10.078
10. Casey Treasure – 1:27:02.661
E2 Provisional Results
1. Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) – 1:16:33.580
2. Joshua Green (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Off-Road Team) – 1:17:52.785
3. Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team) – 1:20:13.306
4. Stefan Granquist – 1:20:17.710
5. Christopher Hollis – 1:20:42.673
6. Riley Graham – 1:21:31.391
7. Matt Murry – 1:25:32.860
8. Sean Holmes – 1:26:05.816
9. Brent Dean – 1:26:47.969
10. Stuart Holt – 1:27:28.645
E1 Provisional Results
1. Luke Styke (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Off-Road Team) – 1:19:12.426
2. Jack Simpson – 1:19:20.753
3. Nicolas Tomlinson – 1:20:50.735
4. Jeremy Carpentier (Yamaha MX Store Ballard’s Off-Road Team) – 1:21:15.201
5. Thomas Ravenhors – 1:21:48.980
6. Baylee Davies – 1:23:18.668
7. Peter-Daniel Allan – 1:23:22.730
8. Brad Hardaker – 1:23:30.881
9. Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) – 1:24:28.746
10. Andrew Janke – 1:25:57.601
EJ Provisional Results
1. Michael Driscoll – 1:21:19.778
2. Joshua Brierley – 1:22:57.020
3. Corey Hammond – 1:25:03.111
4. Lachlan Allan – 1:25:18.107
5. Harry Teed – 1:25:24.023
6. Mitchell Brierley – 1:25:28.805
7. Luke Allan – 1:25:59.502
8. Ashden Gramlick – 1:28:20.597
9. Cooper Sheidow – 1:28:41.413
10. Dalton Johnson – 1:15:36.980
