After a solid win on Saturday, an early crash in Sunday’s 10th round of the Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) removed any hopes of Daniel Milner clinching the 2024 title early at Kingston SE. Fellow KTM-supported riders Riley McGillivray and Tom Buxton completed their weekends in the South Australian sand with consistent podium performances in class.

Saturday’s ninth round featured a gruelling three-hour Cross Country, where the KTM DM31 Racing team owner/rider charged forward from a top-five start to take the lead on the final lap and hold on to comfortably win E2 and outright by almost 10 seconds on his KTM 450 EXC-F.

Unfortunately, Milner experienced a change of fortunes on Sunday, where on the second of the six Sprint tests, he crashed and injured his shoulder. He attempted to race the next stage, but opted to DNF when his shoulder continued to cause him discomfort.

Daniel Milner: “I’m pretty gutted with how my weekend ended, as I could’ve gone home today with the championship wrapped up. I had a good race on Saturday and fought all day to the front. I started well again on Sunday, then towards the end of the second Sprint test something caught me off-guard on a high-speed section and I got biffed off the bike, and landed on my shoulder. Really disappointing end to the weekend, so I’ll go and get my shoulder looked at and make sure we’re ready to wrap the championship up at Nowra.”

In the E3 class, Riley McGillivray and his KTM 500 EXC-F powered into P2 to start the Cross Country, but an error early in the race saw him lose a lot of positions. After battling arm-pump early on, he recovered to finish a hard-fought P2 in class. He tried to stay consistent during Sunday’s Sprints and was awarded with another class runner-up result for his efforts.

Riley McGillivray: “I got a great start to Saturday’s race, but tipped it over pretty early on and lost a lot of ground. My arms pumped up pretty bad and it took a few laps for them to flush out, but once that happened I could push for the second half of the race and make up a lot of time. For how tough the track was, I was happy with my fitness. Sunday was reasonably smooth and I rode consistently, but I didn’t have anything for the leader and he edged out a few more championship points on me. There’re only a few weeks until Nowra, so I’ll work hard and give myself the best chance possible of taking the title there.”

Meanwhile, in the E1 category, KTM DM31 Racing rider Tom Buxton continued to shine in his first year of Australian competition. A determined performance in Saturday’s Cross Country saw him finish P3, then he negotiated the wide range of terrain on offer in Sunday’s Sprint tests to wrap his weekend up with another consistent third-place result.

Tom Buxton: “Saturday’s Cross Country was pretty wild. I got pumped up on the first lap with how rough and tight it was, but I was able to shake it off and get into a good rhythm. By that stage the other E1 boys had pulled a gap on me and I couldn’t close it. Sunday’s Sprint tests were super-rough as it was on part of the track we’d used the day before, but I was happy with how I rode and I got better as the day went on. I’d like to be closer to the guys up front and we’ve got one more weekend to close that gap and finish further up the podium.”

Next rounds: September 14-15 – Nowra, NSW

2024 Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) – Kingston SE, SA

Round nine results:
E1
1. Kyron Bacon (Yamaha)
2. Korey McMahon (GASGAS)
3. Tom Buxton (KTM DM31 Racing)

E2
1. Daniel Milner (KTM DM31 Racing)
2. Andrew Wilksch (Beta)
3. Jonte Reynders (Sherco)

E3
1. Jye Dickson (Beta)
2. Riley McGillivray (KTM)
3. Stefan Granquist (Husqvarna)

Round 10 results:
E1
1. Kyron Bacon (Yamaha)
2. Korey McMahon (GASGAS)
3. Tom Buxton (KTM DM31 Racing)

E2
1. Jonte Reynders (Sherco)
2. Will Dennett (Yamaha)
3. Beau Ralston (Kawasaki)
DNF. Daniel Milner (KTM DM31 Racing)

E3
1. Jye Dickson (Beta)
2. Riley McGillivray (KTM)
3. Billy Hargy (Husqvarna)