Enduro

A4DE Day 2: Mathias Bellino takes slender lead

Posted:

Thursday, November 17th, 2016

7:43 PM

It was Husqvarna mounted rider Mathias Bellino who excelled across nine timed tests today to come out victorious under the hot Merrijig sun at the 2016 Yamaha Australian Four Days Enduro.

After CDR Yamaha‰Ûªs Daniel Milner took the Day One spoils yesterday, he woke up this morning with a target on his back, every competitor wanting to beat the already four time A4DE champion. Bellino was especially eager to show his French fight, winning the first five tests in a row.

On the KTM test first up Bellino posted a quickest time of 6:33.910, a track that he crashed on in yesterday‰Ûªs slippery conditions. The Yamaha test which played to his strengths yesterday, also worked in favour today rounding out test two with the quickest time of 2:11.226.

The third, fourth and fifth test played out much the same with Mathias winning. His five consecutive wins meant he overtook Milner‰Ûªs early lead from yesterday, but close behind was Hollis, ready to snatch back some times and Active8 Yamaha Yamalube‰Ûªs Josh Green increased his speed with every test.

Chris Hollis continues to perform well and again was extremely consistent throughout day two. He sits in fourth place outright, third in the E2 class, and is confident he can keep the momentum going into the final two days. Credit: John Pearson

The afternoon saw a long break at the high country township of Jamieson, both sides of the street filled with team colours, tents, flags and banners where riders pulled in, gassed up, tinkered, dusted off and set out again.

Active8 Yamaha Yamalube‰Ûªs Josh Green, after a well-deserved rest clinched his first outright test win of the event with a 4:52.262 time. Chris Hollis was the next man to attack striking a time of 4:40.657 and winning the Beta test outright before it was straight to the Force Accessories test at the Yamaha A4DE today.

By the eighth test (Force Accessories) the temperature had warmed and so too did Yamaha rider Josh Green‰Ûªs performance, pulling out a 7:47.541 with Daniel ‰Û÷Chucky‰Ûª Sanders nipping at his heels with 7:47.582 ‰ÛÒalmost too close to call.

Concluding the day, riders had one more test (Yamaha) before their day was done and they could look ahead to tomorrow‰Ûªs competition. The river crossings, rocks and slippery conditions didn‰Ûªt deter Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team‰Ûªs Lachlan Stanford who on the final test today showed his mighty fight with a flying lap time of 2:14.930.

A notable absentee from day one‰Ûªs results, but a strong Australian Off-Road competitor KTM Enduro Racing Team‰Ûªs Tye Simmonds also made use of his rival‰Ûªs fatigue posting a second quickest time of 2:15.258. Bellino (2:15.297) slotting in third, cementing his charge at the half way point in the competition.

E1 rider Josh Green has put himself in an outstanding position, sitting third outright after day two and mounted on a 250cc machine, some 200cc less than his main rivals. Credit: John Pearson

Although there was plenty of push back from Australian competitors to overtake the French rival, Bellino was too quick in this morning tests and secured himself an overall time of 54:20.620 across the first two days. Milner (54:28.172) and Hollis (54:39.941) now sit in second and third respectively.

Mathias concluded the day sharing that "everything went well for me today. It was one of those days where everything just worked. I really enjoyed the motocross style Yamaha Test track before it was chewed up over the course of the day."

"I am enjoying the conditions and the terrain here. We had really nice view points and scenery, nice fun, fast and flowing tracks. Everywhere you go in the world it is different, naturally," he concluded.

Respectively winning Day Two‰Ûªs events outright in the E1, E2 and E3 classes were Green (45:40.175), Bellino (45:25.057) and Stanford (45:56.832).

Womens‰Ûª and Veterans competitors Tayla Jones (50:36.806) and Dylan Rees (48:30.489) had another cracking day around the country side of rural Victoria cementing their leads in their respective classes after nine tests and plenty of kilometres on their machines today. David Fleming also showing his strength in the Master‰Ûªs field managing a fastest overall time of 51:35.343.

Once again it was New South Wales who proved their dominance in the state team titles with the three, Senior, Junior and Women‰Ûªs Trophy Teams all victorious strengthening their lead over the remaining states.

The conclusion of today marked the half way point in the 2016 Yamaha Australian Four Days Enduro , and with each competitor getting familiar with the trails and tests, anticipation is building for faster times and more competition coming up through the ranks.

*All results from Day one of the 2016 Yamaha Australian Four Days Enduro are provisional

Yamaha A4DE top ten outright results:
Mathias Bellino 54:20.620
Daniel Milner 54:28.172
Chris Hollis 54:39.941
Josh Green 54:44.294
Lachlan Stanford 55:12.195
Daniel Sanders 55:26.057
Matt Phillips 55:30.151
Glenn Kearney 55:41.806
Lyndon Snodgrass 56:00.994
Jack Simpson 56:05.112

Yamaha A4DE top five day two E1 results:
Josh Green 45:40.175
Glenn Kearney 46:55.311
Jack Simpson 47:01.578
Riley Graham 47:24.247
Stefan Granqvist 47:59.735

Yamaha A4DE top five day two E2 results:
Mathias Bellino 45:25.057
Chris Hollis 45:51.619
Daniel Milner 45:53.887
Matt Phillips 46:18.719
Broc Grabham 46:48.860

Yamaha A4DE top five day two E3 results:
Lachlan Stanford 45:56.832
Daniel Sanders 46:23.605
Lyndon Snodgrass 47:11.422
Christopher Davey 47:33.866
Nic Tomlinson 47:51.199

Yamaha A4DE top five day two Women‰Ûªs results:
Tayla Jones 50:36.806
Jemma Wilson 52:28.237
Jess Gardiner 53:39.067
Emelie Karlsson 54:39.501
Sophie Coldicutt 56:02.713

Yamaha A4DE top five day two Veteran‰Ûªs results:
Dylan Rees 48:30.489
Damian Smith 49:02.782
Kirk Hutton 50:35.620
Rowan Pumpa 52:37.954
Brandon Kienhuis 54:40.175

Yamaha A4DE top five day two Master‰Ûªs results:
David Fleming 51:35.343
Jason Salopayevs 54:22.274
Brett Steel 54:29.953
Mark Peacock 55:48.727
Fred Patterson 55:53.561

For a full list of results click here.

Main Photo: Leader after the conclusion of day 2, Mathias Bellino
Credit: T. Spragg.