Husqvarna's young factory support racers have exceeded all expectations in this year's Australian Off Road Championships, populating all the high-profile championship podiums.
Despite their fair share of misfortune and injury, Husqvarna men Lachy Stanford, Glenn Kearney, Lyndon Snodgrass, Brock Grabham and Fraser Higlett belied the team's modest operating budget by all finishing their respective AORC championships on the podium.
Across the E3, E2, E1 and U19 podiums, Husqvarna was the most successful brand after the dominant KTM squad - a spectacular effort which saw all bar the legendary veteran Kearney eclipse their previous AORC personal bests by significant margins.Showing an instant synergy with his Husqvarna FE 501, Stanford registered his career-highest finish in the AORC outright standings with fourth overall, and second in the E3 category on his way to establishing himself as one of the top contenders.
‰ÛÏMy weekend wasn‰Ûªt the best - I couldn't find a flow on Saturday, and after I started to get better in the last one I had a massive crash." Stanford reflected. "It was really bad; my front wheel went into a hole in about fourth gear and I went over the bars.
"I hit my head really bad, my nose was bleeding, and it took a while to get up. That set me back to 20th place, so coming into Sunday I was still fourth outright and second in E3, but Beau and Jack weren‰Ûªt far behind so I had to stay in front.
"So I had work to do for Round 12 so I wouldn‰Ûªt go back to sixth. The track was a rough today and I found more of a flow and eventually started to gel. Honestly I felt that I‰Ûªd found my groove again - after the hand injury, I haven't felt in good form. But halfway through today it happened and I started doing some really good times. I'm very happy go fast again, coming into the six-day - I was starting to doubt myself!It's been a good series for me.
"Riding the 501 all year has been really good, and the support of Glenn and Christian in the Husqvarna Enduro Team has been really good all year. This is my best AORC finish yet so I now have a month before I leave for the ISDE. I'll get back on the 250F now and start practising the smaller bike - I'm really looking forward to that.‰Û
