Sweet Sweet Victory For Snodgrass, Milner, Sanders And Brierley
Four seasons in one day. That adequately describes the experience for all riders and teams here at Broken Hill for Round 7 of the 2019 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC). After a thrilling Prologue yesterday which saw Daniel “Chucky” Sanders (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) claim pole position with the fastest time of the day, and then back it up today with the fastest time for the entire field.
Over nine laps of a 27 kilometre course, Josh Brierley (Nowra Motorcycles, Husqvarna) claimed his first class win of the season in EJ, and Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team), Daniel Milner (KTM Enduro Racing Team) and Chucky took the win for E1, E2 and E3.
E1
An intensely concentrated class in terms of talent, an E1 victory is always hard fought and today’s Cross-Country was absolutely no exception. Over nine laps, Snodgrass claimed a well earnt win ahead of the current leader, Luke Styke (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube), with a time of 3:33:53.624. Styke settled for second, with a total time of 3:37:10.062.
Third place was won by Husqvarna’s Fraser Higlett, with a total time today of 3:40:47.695.
“Today was good out here in Broken Hill. It was pretty brutal out there but I hung in there to get the class win,” explained Snodgrass.
“The conditions were tough with sections where you couldn’t see much, but when the wind blew the dirt away from you, life was a little bit easier.”
2019 AORC Round 7 E1 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team) 3:33:53.624
- Luke Styke (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube) 3:37:10.062
- Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) 3:40:47.695
- Michael Driscoll (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube) 3:45:10.016
- Lachlan Allan (Kawasaki Castrol Oil Off-Road Team) 3:36:28.932 (+1 lap)
E2
Round 7 marks another notch onto Milner’s perfect season belt, as he flew right into first place for E2 with a total time of 3:32:28.447. Even with a larger bike and injuries sustained over the past few months, Milner just couldn’t be beat, with Josh Green (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube) conceding for second place, just 2 minutes and 24 seconds behind.
Yamaha MX Store Ballards Off-Road Team’s Jeremy Carpentier stole away the final podium position today, crossing the finish line with a total time of 3:43:10.771.
“The conditions out here were pretty crazy, so my day was rough! I know I said last year was the driest I’ve ever seen it, but this year the conditions are definitely the driest I’ve ever seen,” confirmed Milner.
“I’m absolutely stoked to get through the day! I pushed as hard as I could and did everything I could to get the win!
2019 AORC Round 7 E2 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Daniel Milner (KTM Enduro Racing Team) 3:32:38.447
- Joshua Green (Active8 Yamaha Yamalube) 3:35:03.182
- Jeremy Carpentier (Yamaha MX Store Ballards Off-Road Team) 3:43:10.771
- Stefan Granquist (Yamaha) 3:51:02.671
- William Price (Kessner KTM) 3:34:55.335 (+1 lap)
E3
Coming into this weekend, Chucky had clocked up a total of 707 Championship points to his name since starting back in 2013. Riding on that high and his pole from Prologue yesterday, Chucky was a sight to be seen as he jumped light years ahead of everyone to achieve the fastest time of the day, 3:27:58.853!
With first place well and truly won, second place was clinched by Motul Pirelli Sherco Team’s Andy Wilksch, with a total time of 3:41:54.481. Podium regular, Beau Ralston (Schwarz Excavation Husqvarna JWP) unfortunately couldn’t meet the speed and agility of Alexander Bolton (Bolton Motorcycles), who rode into third place with a total time of 3:43:09.027, just 16 seconds ahead of Ralston.
“Today was good. I took off from the first start today which helped me put in a clean gap, marking a major change from this time last year in Broken Hill,” reflected Chucky.
“The conditions were tough but you just had to keep wiping the goggles and manage the high speeds. Come the end of the day, I’m just happy to finish safe.”
2019 AORC Round 7 E3 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) 3:27:58.853
- Andy Wilksch (Motul Pirelli Sherco Team) 3:41:54.481
- Alexander Bolton (Bolton Motorcycles) 3:43:09.027
- Beau Ralston (Schwarz Excavation Husqvarna JWP) 3:43:26.025
- Jesse Lawton (Thor MX) 3:34:44.600 (+1 lap)
EJ
Following on from major upset yesterday in EJ, our class victor was none other than Brierley, who has continuously nipped at Kyron Bacon’s (MX Store, KTM) heels all season for a taste at glory. With a total time of 3:48:09.162, Brierley finished ahead of Korey McMahon (KTM Australia), whom he was enjoying a fantastic tango with up until the final lap, in which McMahon suffered a crash that extended Brierley’s lead.
McMahon was awarded second place with a total time of 3:23:09.723 (+1 lap), followed by Bacon in third with a total time of 3:28:38.655 (+1 lap).
“The conditions out there were really tough,” confirmed Brierley. “But, overall my day went really well and I am so happy to come away with the win!”
2019 AORC Round 7 EJ Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Josh Brierley (Nowra Motorcycles, Husqvarna) 3:48:09.162
- Korey McMahon (KTM Australia) 3:23:09.723 (+1 lap)
- Kyron Bacon (MX Store, KTM) 3:28:38.655 (+1 lap)
- Corey Hammond (Suttos Powersports) 3:29:36.718 (+1 lap)
- Cooper Sheidow (Kessner Motorcycles) 3:32:33.433 (+1 lap)
AORC moves South now to Coonalpyn, South Australia for Rounds 8 & 9
of the 2019 season. Running from August 31 to September 1, head to
AORC.org.au to read up on the second last weekend of the Championship.
Don’t miss a minute of the action of the 2019 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship by visiting the AORC Website at aorc.org.au, or by following the Yamaha AORC on Twitter and Facebook as
well as @aorc on Instagram. Don’t forget to download the Official AORC
app via Team App. It’s as easy as download Team App and search ‘AORC’!
Images courtesy of John Pearson Media
