‰ÛÏThis is easily the hardest race in Australia and probably one of the hardest in the world I guess. It's a different style to Erzberg; more of a cross-country extreme. It's got the fast sections as well so it's not just all trialsy technical stuff," Harper said.
"There were five riders a minute ahead of me off the start, but I got into the lead by the end of the first lap. I got three of them up and down the gullies, in the first three quarters of the lap, and then in the final rock garden I got the last two, and when I got up out of the rock section where it‰Ûªs like a flat, rocky paddock all the way back to the pits, I was looking back and I had a pretty good lead, so I put my head down and pushed on from there. I did a few good laps and the gap was getting bigger and bigger. So then I slowed down.
"The TX was an awesome choice of a bike. Struggling up these rocks sections you end up pushing the bike half the way, so the light weight was definitely a plus. I played around with the powervalve and I had it right out for the prologue so I could jump a few of the log doubles, but then for the race I screwed it in so it was real torquey, not slipping on the rocks or anything. It‰Ûªs an awesome bike. I was on the clutch all day and it didn't fade or anything. The crowd was huge out there today, in the rock gardens you're thinking, ‰Û÷why am I here?‰Ûª But then you get to the top of the hills and you're up on the pegs and they are all cheering and it helps you just keep you going. It's good," Harper concluded.
Main Photo: Mitch Harper
Credit: Aics Maddog Images
