CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis hit his stride at Rounds 5 and 6 of the Australian Off Road Championship, held in South Australia, where he claimed a round win and a podium position.
Tom McCormack also made gains in his form and began to show the speeds he is capable of to hit the class podium for the first time this year in a good confidence booster for the talented rider.
Measured by his lofty standards, Chris Hollis has made a slow start to the year but with each round he has continued to make progress in his racing and Round 5 at Murray Bridge saw the New South Welshman hit his straps and take a convincing round win, both in Outright and E2 class honour.
Hollis, who had been building at each round hit the ground running, winning five of the seven special tests conducted to take an emphatic victory for the round. The only spoiler came when he fell awkwardly late in the day.
Sunday again saw Hollis in good form but the fall had taken some wind from his sails and he wasn’t as sharp as the previous day. He again worked hard and managed to take third for the round, second in E2, and he has leapt up the leader board to be perfectly placed with six rounds remaining. He sits third outright, 18 points from the lead, and has taken control of the points in the E2 class on his WR450F.
“It was the weekend I needed to have and get myself back into this championship,” Hollis stated. “Everything was going well on Saturday and the WR450F was awesome but that crash was a good one and I was pretty sore after it so Sunday I just had to do the best I could.
“But all up, it was a good weekend for the team as Tom also made the podium and a nice reward for everyone who have been working so hard. I have six rounds to make up 18 points so it’s time to get to work and hunt them down,” he ends.
Tom McCormack also made his first podium appearance of the year and his very first podium in the E2 class as he took his CDR Yamaha WR450F to third at round six on Sunday. The Saturday event was a bit of a struggle for McCormack, but to his credit, he was able to turn that around and raced to an impressive third place in class and eighth outright the following day.
“While the results don’t show it, I felt on Saturday there were some tests where I did alright and I felt pretty good on the bike so I was confident I could go better on Sunday,” McCormack explains. “Sunday was much better and a much more consistent effort throughout the whole day.
“It just felt good to be racing up the near the front and battling for position again. That’s where I need to be. Hopefully, this is the start of a big finish in the AORC and I can consistently get myself in podium and class contention,” McCormack finishes.
There is now a two month break in the AORC calendar which will allow the CDR Yamaha team and riders to mount a serious challenge for AORC honours. Round seven and eight of the series takes place at Hedley in Victoria on July 23 and 24 so there is plenty of time to prepare and build on the momentum gained at the South Australian round.
