Chilly conditions greeted competitors at round three of the 2011 Yamaha Australian Off Road Championship, with KTM rider Toby Price powering through the tough conditions to take line honours ahead of Husqvarna's Glenn Kearney and Yamaha's Chris Hollis.
The gruelling three hour Cross Country format saw nearly 270 competitors challenged by the wet course in the combined National and State Championship rounds.
In the E1 Class, KTM's
Ben Grabham, took line honours ahead of former World Champ and Yamaha rider
Stefan Merriman and fellow blue bike rider
Kirk Hutton who rounded out the top three places.
Reigning Champ and KTM star Price led from the outset, despite the tough track conditions, and crossed the line ahead of Kearney and Hollis in the E2 class.
KTM's
Jarrod Bewley was once again first across the line in the E3 Class, with
Scott Keagan and
Mitch Bowen also taking honours in second and third places respectively.
The three hour race was a tough slog for competitors, as the wet track fought back, forming deep ruts and kickers and claiming a few riders along the way.
In the Masters Class, Team Boss
Geoff Ballard once again took the top spot with
Trent Lean (Suzuki) and
David Cash (Yamaha) rounding out the top three.
Damien Smith took line honours in the Veterans class, while
Garry Dukes and
Adam Schneller rounded out the remaining podium places.
Yamaha rider
Jemma Wilson won round three of the Women's Championship class, ahead of
Jess Gardiner (Yamaha) and Sweden's
Emelie Karlson (Yamaha), while
Mitch Kelner,
Nic Tomlinson,
Scott Sowry and
Brendon Walther all topped their respective classes in the Junior ranks.
Round four of the Championship kicks into gear on Sunday featuring the action-packed Sprint Format.
Full results from the first round of racing can be found on the Series website at
www.ma.org.au/aorc.
