A cast of over 300 competitors entered the Murray Bridge gates for Round 6 of the 2016 Yamaha Australian Off-Road championship, battling through tough conditions that the Murray Bridge terrain had to offer.
E1
KTM mounted Jack Simpson took off from the start line this morning, taking his confidence from his Round 5 class win to push his bike to the test. Simpson once again was able to launch his bike in front of second place Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team’s Glenn Kearney to round out the podium with the Round 6, E1 win finishing with a 42:25.601 time.
Kearney (42:37.267) second, was followed close behind by Scott Keegan (43:03.744) who slipped just off the times from this mornings test to conclude on the third step of the podium.
E2
Round 5 winner, CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis went up against KTM Enduro Racing Team Rider Tye Simmonds to attempt to defend his winning streak from Round 5. However, Simmonds was unstoppable from the get go taking the outright top spot on the time sheets and remained consistent through out the day. Simmonds was victorious taking the Round 6, E2 class win and the outright fastest time for the day with a 41:43.692, marking his AORC career best achievement to date.
Hollis putting in a strong fight after recovering from his crash in the last test the day before, was only seconds behind Simmonds with a concluding time of 42:16.959. CDR Yamaha’s Tom McCormack joined both Simmonds and Hollis on the podium in third with a finishing time of 42:51.581.
“I am feeling really good after the results today. I knew as soon as we got to this type of event, where it was a bit more open with room to move I knew I was going to be where I should results wise,” Simmonds said.
“We had a ball this weekend, the tracks were good and this layout suits my riding style. It’s nice to be able to bring home the win for my team and myself.
“I am hoping to continue with these results and strive for the wins for the rest of the season.
“I think the hardest test today was the last two, knowing I had the lead, and just trying to keep it. I was more over the moon, normally I struggle in the first test and today I took the outright time this morning,” he concluded.
E3
Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Rider Lachlan Stanford was once again victorious claiming the Round 6 win in the E3 class. The Husqvarna mounted rider finished just under 30 seconds in front of second placed KTM Enduro Racing Team’s Daniel Sanders, Stanford concluding the day with a 42:06.854 time.
Sanders battling an injury sustained in the test the day before, managed to redeem his times to finish in second with a 42:36.257 time, while Active8 Yamaha Yamalube’s Beau Ralston was challenging his times close behind Sanders with a finishing time of 42:41.554.
Women’s
Yamaha mounted Jemma Wilson (51:38.121) was in fine form today as she backed up her win from yesterday with another solid six tests to claim the women’s Round 6 win ahead of second place Jessica Gardiner.
With the Women’s class battling it out on the KTM track today the warm and dusty conditions proved tough however Gardiner put on another consistent performance joining Wilson on the podium with a concluding time of 51:41.296.
Sophie Coldicutt redeemed her times from yesterday to manoeuvre her machine around the tight track to round out the top three positions for the Womens’ with a concluding time of 54:23.398.
Wilson, was happy to claim yet another win and put more championship points on the board, speaking about the tough competition today battling Gardiner for the win.
“Yesterday was pretty cruisy pulling over 50 seconds from Jess (Gardiner) but I think today I went in too confident, but after Jess gained more pace towards my lead, from then the race was on,” she said.
“Today has been some crazy close racing only beating Jess by minute seconds in some of the tests, but I ended up getting the win only four seconds ahead.
“The close racing makes it more stressful, of course, but more interesting and it pushed us both along today,” Wilson concluded.
