Milner Back with a Vengeance at Dungog Yamaha AORC

After almost two months off the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) was back with a bang at Dungog, New South Wales, in the form of a time carded enduro. Daniel Milner didn’t miss a beat aboard his KTM taking the class win in E3 along with the fastest time of the day. Daniel Sanders continued his great season aboard his Husqvarna taking out the E2 class, making it five wins in a row this season.

In E1 it was a breakout victory for Fraser Higlett who pushed through the tricky Dungog conditions to claim his first win of 2018.

The paddock today took on over 40km of tight and technical trails, and then jumped into two tests, the Cross Test and the Enduro Test. The Cross Test was an open grass track that saw the bikes open and hit some high speeds. On the other hand, the Enduro Test was tight and technical, keeping the riders on their toes at each turn.

E3
Milner was a man possessed today, putting the field to the sword with serious speed from the first test and showing his class. The KTM rider made the tight technical cross test look a breeze whilst he opened up his KTM 500 on the grass based enduro test, stopping the clock at 45:44.564. Lachlan Stanford continued his consistent season aboard his Husqvarna machine, finishing with a time of 47:25.407. Rounding out the podium on his new ride, Scott Keegan who was on a KTM for the first time this season, clocking a time of 47:50.130.

Milner was happy to be back on the bike at AORC and put a tough month behind him, “The time off definitely helped me and after a rough last month I came here extremely determine to get out here and get a good result. The trail here was unbelievable a lot of time must have gone into putting that together, then the tests just had awesome lay outs on both the cross and enduro tests. It was just an awesome day and the tracks were good fun,” finished Milner.

Round 5 E3 Provisional Results
1. Daniel Milner (KTM Factory Enduro Racing Team) 45:44.564
2. Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) 47:25.407
3. Scott Keegan 47:50.130
4. Broc Grabham 48:14.342
5. Thomas Mason 49:14.903

E2
Sanders continued his rich vein of form in AORC after returning from overseas racing this year, claiming his fifth win in a row aboard his Husqvarna. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Sanders who took a hard fall during his sight lap, but he regained his composure to once again take the class victory with a 46:19.584.

Josh Green backed up his efforts at Hattah during the break putting his Yamaha into second position, stopping the clock at 47:02.420. In third it was the man in orange, Lyndon Snodgrass finishing the day with a time of 47:11.989, look for Snodgrass to push Sanders and Green for a top two finish tomorrow.

Round 5 E2 AORC Provisional Results
1. Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna Enduro Factory Racing Team) 46:19.584
2. Josh Green (Active8 Yamalube Yamaha Racing Team) 47:02.420
3. Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Factory Racing Team) 47:11.989
4. Wil Ruprecht (Active8 Yamalube Yamaha Racing Team) 47:28.295
5. Stefan Granquist 48:18.960

E1
The improvement of Higlett has been noticeable this year with impressive results earlier in the season and a strong Yamaha Australian Four-Day Enduro performance, but today he took another step forward collecting his first E1 victory of the season.

The Husqvarna rider finished with a time of 47:03.373 to put an end to the Luke Styke’s winning streak. Styke wasn’t far off the pace, finishing with a time 47:08.606 to put his Yamaha in second position. Taking the final step on the podium was Jack Simpson who showed great skills throughout the day, pushing his KTM all day and stopping the clock at 48:26.559.

Round 5 E1 AORC Provisional Results
1. Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna Enduro Factory Racing Team) 47:03.373
2. Luke Styke (Actvie8 Yamalube Yamaha Racing Team) 47:08.606
3. Jack Simpson 48:26.559
4. Brad Hardaker 49:52.676
5. Tomas Ravenhorst 50:11.967

125cc Amateur Cup
A first for both AORC and Dungog Motorcycle Club saw the Amateur 125cc Cup join the proceedings, and it would be Geoff Braico who took out the class on his Husqvarna. Ben Grabham did his best to keep Braico honest, but had to settle for second place. The last step of the podium went to Stuart McWilliam who fought all the way to the finish.

Round 5 AORC 125cc Amateur Cup Provisional Results
1. Geoff Braico 48:38.420
2. Ben Grabham 49:24.835
3. Stuart McWilliam 58:25.931

The action continues again tomorrow for Round Six of AORC from Dungog, NSW. To stay up to date with all the racing head to AORC website, like AORC on Facebook and follow AORC on Instagram. 

Photos courtesy of John Pearson Media