Ralston tops 450 class at Hattah Desert Race

In just his second attempt at the physically demanding event, Ralston rode exceptionally well all day to take third outright behind KTM riders Tye Simmonds and Daniel Sanders in a time of 4 hours and 17 minutes in a top shelf performance but more importantly, he won the 450cc division with a comfortable margin back to his nearest rivals.

Riding a WR450F, Ralston started the event positively qualifying in fourth place and feeling good on the bike.

During the opening laps of the eight lap event, Ralston was able to consolidate his position in fourth before moving into third in the latter stages of the race. All riders ahead of Ralston were on 500cc machines.

In the 450cc class, he led from the get-go to take a start to finish class victory in a dominant display for the WR450F.

“This is one of the hardest races to do as you just go wide open for four hours,” Ralston explains. “It’s like a big sand based motocross track so there is no relaxing out there and by the last couple of laps, the track is rough and the sand is deep and is really hard work but the reward is worth it in the end. I like racing here.

“Doing this event is a huge effort from everyone on the team and the bike was perfect all week. We just topped it up with fuel and kept on riding so the WR proves its durability again as this event can be hard on bikes.

“Thank you to the Active8 Yamaha team and our sponsors and hopefully next year we can climb a little higher up the ladder,” Ralston ends.

The Active8 Yamalube Yamaha team also assisted Riley Graham on the weekend on board his YZ250FX. It was the first attempt at the event for the South Australian and proved a real eye opener on just hard demanding the Hattah race is.

Despite losing a front brake as a result of a crash and then a long stop to get it fixed, Graham managed to finish third in the 250cc class and come away satisfied with his efforts.

“This race is a lot different to any of the AORC or A4DE events I have done and it’s draining on the body but I really enjoyed it. Thanks to the Active8 Yamaha team for lending me a hand over the weekend and know with some experience here, I would like to come back and do a lot better next time.”

Yamaha also took class honours in the 45 years Masters class with Mike Reefman taking the win on board his YZ450F.