Taking the victories for Rounds 1 & 2 on both Saturday and Sunday were Daniel Milner (E3) Daniel Sanders (E2) Luke Styke (E1) and Michael Driscoll (EJ).
Round 1 – Saturday
E3
Maintaining his perfect record since 2017 was Daniel Milner of the KTM Enduro Racing Team. 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 recording 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.
Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team rider, Lachlan Stanford 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 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
Round 2 – Sunday
E3
Daniel Milner was once again the leading man for the E3 class on Sunday. The rider that offered the greatest challenge to Milner was Husqvarna Enduro racing Team’s Lachlan Stanford. The gap that separated Milner and Stanford was 88 seconds with Milner registering a 53:38.468 and Stanford a 55:06.916 to finish the day. The final podium placer for today was Broc Grabham. Grabham with his 56:16.507 was 69 seconds off the pace of Stanford.
E2
The rider of the day had to go to Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders, as he was the fastest on the WR450F track and his class. ‘Chucky’ had phenomenal speed yesterday, but several falls hindered his true potential. Husqvarna Enduro Racing’s Sanders took a 48 second victory to Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Team’s, Josh Green. The times for these pair being 53:29.353 (Sanders) and 55:06.916 (Green). The final podium placing went to Lyndon Snodgrass of the KTM Enduro Team.
Sanders sharing; “It was a great day today, I injured my hand slightly yesterday but we managed to overcome it. We went in with a plan to attack the track as hard as possible and give it all we’ve got. The Husqvarna machine was unreal!”
E1
Luke Styke of the Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Team is showing all the signs that his transition to Enduro from Motocross was a brilliant idea. Styke reigned supreme as a back to back winner for Rounds 1 & 2. The Yamaha rider completed the WR450F track in 55:01.233. Coming second was Jack Simpson on his KTM machine. The difference between winning and losing being 27 seconds. Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team rider, Fraser Higlett completing the podium with an elapsed time of 55:33.463.
Styke saying; “Today went really well and I ended up winning my class. We made a few changes to the bike over the weekend and they were beneficial. I didn’t have much nerves about my first AORC race, I’ve worked super hard over the off-season. The track today was a lot tighter than yesterday but our setup worked so well on Saturday so we maintained it.
E3 Provisional Results
1.Daniel Milner (KTM Enduro Racing Team) – 53:38.468
2. Lachlan Stanford – (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) 55:06.916
3. Broc Grabham – 56:16.507
4. Thomas Mason – 56:31.988
5. Andrew Wilksch (Motul Pirelli Sherco Team) – 57:31.577
6. Kane Hall – 57:47.544
7. Jamie Robins – 58:24.485
8. Jesse Lawton – 58:30.676
9. Adam Giles – 59:49:630
10. James Skehan – 1:00:23.759
E2 Provisional Results
1. Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) – 53:29.353
2. Joshua Green (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Off-Road Team) – 54:17.486
3. Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team) – 54:26.654
4. Stefan Granquist – 56:35.666
5. Riley Graham – 57:21.487
6. Christopher Hollis – 58:08.628
7. Matt Murray – 1:00:29.538
8. Brent Dean – 1:00:52.343
9. Sean Homes – 1:01:00.122
10. Daniel Collins – 1:01:11.046
E1 Provisional Results
1. Luke Styke (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Off-Road Team) – 55:01.233
2. Jack Simpson – 55:28.575
3. Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) – 55:33.463
4. Jeremy Carpentier – (Yamaha MX Store Ballard’s Off-Road Team) 56:19.481
5. Nicholas Tomlinson – 56:24.057
6. Tomas Ravenhors – 57:36.104
7. Brad Hardaker – 58:26.257
8. Baylee Davies – 58:34.955
9. Andrew Janke – 59:49.230
10. Peter-Daniel Allan – 1:00:17.588
EJ Provisional Results
1. Michael Driscoll – 55:54.499
2. Joshua Brierley – 57:10.631
3. Corey Hammond – 58:38.096
4. Dalton Johnson – 58:41.681
5. Harry Teed – 59:42.902
6. Mitchell Brierley – 59:55.323
7. Lachlan Allan – 1:00:16.137
8. Cooper Sheidow – 1:01:32.808
9. Riley Nancarrow – 1:01:48.751
10. Ashden Gramlick – 1:02:05.792