EnduroCross

CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis Crowned Australian Enduro-X Champion

Husqvarna's Mike Brown secures Final Round win

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014

11:17 PM

CDR Yamaha's Chris Hollis has won the inaugural KTM Australian Enduro-X champion after an action packed final round of the series held at Calder Park in Victoria today.

Heading into the series finale Hollis held a handy thirteen point lead over KTM Off-Road Racing teams Toby Price, with Hollis's team mate Daniel Milner holding down third, with the three riders along with American Husqvarna rider Mike Brown expect to be the main contenders for the round win.

Brown confirmed he was going to be the rider to beat in the three moto final in the afternoon, clear winning both of his heats during the day and also topping the top ten shootout to earn the first pick of the gate for the first final.

When the gates dropped on the first of three finals, it was Brown again who quickly worked his way to the front, while the title favourites in Hollis and Price both went down in the early in the lap leaving them both at the back of the field and scrambling for positions. Price put in a charge and looked as though he was going to make up some serious points on Hollis, working his way up to third position.

Unfortunately for Price, while trying to make a move on Privateer Beau Ralston for second position through the first of two rock sections, he got caught up on a rock and watched as nearly the whole field rode by while he tried to free himself.

Out front, Brown raced to a big win, followed home by Ralston in second and Milner in third and in the process gained himself some valuable points on Price who again charged through the field to 7th and Hollis who finished in 9th.

Toby Price finished second in the championship after a third place finish at the final round - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Ralston pulled the holeshot in the second final and checked out from the field taking a wire to wire win and proving he is a rider that is going to be more than handy as he changes focus from motocross to the Off-Road world.

Behind Ralston, Brown worked forward from a mid pack start to finish in second, while Hollis edged out Price for third position.

Heading into the final race the large crowd on hand had two races to focus on, with Brown and Ralston who both missed the opening round in Brisbane going head to head for round win, and also the championship title fight between Hollis and Price.

Price jumped out to the lead at the start of the final race of the 2014 Enduro-X season and went on to take the race win, doing everything in his power in his bid for championship glory but it would not be enough, leaving him second in the series and third overall for the day.

Mike Brown earned his first overall win on Australian soil winning at Calder Park - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Finishing second in the final race was Brown, which was enough to give him the round win.

"It was a good day today." Brown stated. "I got some good starts, but crashed twice in the second race when they watered the track and didn't tell us, but that's racing, that happens sometimes. Then in the third, me and Toby got good starts but I knew what I had to do to win so I didn‰Ûªt have to take too many extra risks.

Active8 Yamaha's Stefan Granquist raced a great final race to hold down third place, finishing just ahead of Hollis who claimed the championship with his fourth place finish in the final moto.

"I am pretty lucky that I went so well at the first two rounds, coming out on top in those round," Hollis commented while standing on top of the podium at Calder park.

"In the first race hear today I got caught up with Toby off the start, then went down in the rock section and busted my wrist up a bit. Those last two races were definitely hard.

"In the end it was all about the championship and I just cruised around and made sure of it.

A big thanks to the CDR Yamaha team, it has been a couple of years since I have raced a Yamaha and it is good to be back and be able to put that number one plate on."

Daniel Milner rounded out the Championship in the Pro Class - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Milner finished in fifth to secure the final position on the championship podium and giving CDR Yamaha who have won nearly everything they have entered since joining the Off-Road race scene, a double championship podium result.

Ralston had a shocker of a final race, with a couple of crashes and a stall leaving him in eight place, however his two great results in the opening races was enough to see him finish second for the round.

In the Women's class is was Sherco's Jessica Gardiner who came away with both the round and championship win on the back of clean sweep of all three Women's races for the day which included the all important points paying final.

"Today was a lot of fun" Gardiner stated. I was a bit worried at the start of that final race, Tayla got the start and she was riding awesome, congrats to her, it was a great battle and I am just really happy to be on top.

"It is great to start the year with a championship like this, I have to give a big thank you to my step day and my whole family all my sponsors who have helped me out, including Bulk Nutrients and InsureMyRide who are here today.

"To all the public, they were awesome out there, all the cheering around the track really kept me motivated, so thank you to you and all the organisers who put on this great race."

Jess Gardiner was unbeatable all day at the final round on her way to taking the Women's title - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Finishing second in the Women's class for the day was Kirstie Mckinnon which secured her third place in the championship. KTM privateer Tayla Jones who lead the Women's final early finished the day in third for second overall in the series.

Other championship class winners included, Nic Tomlinson in the Expert class, Ben Alfred in the clubman class, Owen Lockin the Vets class and Ruben Chadwick in the Junior class.

Pro Class Round 3 Overall Round Results:
1. Mike Brown 69 Pts
2. Beau Ralston 60 Pts
3. Toby Price 57 Pts
4. Chris Hollis 50 Pts
5. Daniel Milner 49 Pts
6. Glenn Kearney 48 Pts
7. Stefan Granquist 47 Pts
8. Daniel Sanders 45 Pts
9. Tom Mccormack 38 Pts
10. Jack Field 32 Pts
11. Peter Boyle 22 Pts
12. Scott Keegan 11 Pts

Chris Hollis celebrates with his team after crossing the finish line to win the title - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Pro Class Overall Championship Results:
1. Chris Hollis 188 Pts
2. Toby Price 182 Pts
3. Daniel Milner 161 Pts
4. Tom Mccormack 130 Pts
5. Peter Boyle 128 Pts
6. Mike Brown 127 Pts
7. Beau Ralston 113 Pts
8. Stefan Granquist 95 Pts
9. Glenn Kearney 82 Pts
10. Jack Field 55 Pts

Women's Overall Championship Results:
1. Jessica Gardiner 72 Pts
2. Tayla Jones 65 Pts
3. Kirstie Mckinnon 60 Pts
4. Jemma Wilson 52 Pts
5. Kellie Catanese 41 Pts

Nic Tomlinson won the Expert Championship - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Expert Overall Championship Results:
1. Nic Tomlinson 64 Pts
2. Robert Nowak 60 Pts
3. Jesse Kistler 40 Pts
4. Thomas Tuckerman 40 Pts
5. Shaun Brunton 39 Pts

Clubman Overall Championship Results:
1. Ben Alfred 59 Pts
2. Blake Hall 45 Pts
3. Brayden Zillman 40 Pts
4. Tyler Bunyan 36 Pts
5. Jason Roods 35 Pts

Own Lock proved to be the fastest of the Old Boys take the championship win in the Vets class - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Over 35 Overall Championship Results:
1. Owen Lock 69 Pts
2. Andrew Jackson 54 Pts
3. Lee Pearsall 47 Pts
4. Miller Hinds 40 Pts
5. Cameron Donald 25 Pts

Junior Overall Championship Results:
1. Ruben Chadwick 65 Pts
2. Stuart Holt 64 Pts
3. Ben Kearns 54 Pts
4. Jack Williams 52 Pts
5. Deon Javni 45 Pts

Top Image: CDR Yamaha's Chris Hollis is your 2014 KTM Australian Enduro-X Champion
Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Beau Ralston showed his would be a great pick up for any of the Off-Road teams with another great performance at Calder Park winning the second final and finishing second overall - Credit: Aaryn Minerds