In perfect conditions, off-road titans Wil Ruprecht and Daniel Milner resumed their battle at rounds three and four of the Australian Enduro Championship (AEC) in Rawson, Victoria, with the duo again splitting round victories.
With some lead up rain making for amazing conditions, the planned formats of a three-hour Cross-Country event on Saturday and Sprints on Sunday went ahead with a huge number of riders in attendance.
Ruprecht was looking to rebound after the opening weekend that saw him win day one but finish behind Milner on day two but that looked at look odds moments into the start of the Cross Country when Ruprecht stalled the bike and dropped an enormous amount of positions. Somehow, he was able to get the bike fired again and by midway through the opening lap, found himself back into contention in fifth place and within sight of the lead.
He then moved his way passed Milner, before moving into the lead less than a lap later, but Milner was in his shadow. Less than a couple of seconds separated the pair for the first half of the race, but Ruprecht dropped the hammer and pulled a cap on his rival and by the time the checkered flag came out, Ruprecht and his ShopYamaha WR450F won by 38 seconds to take honours in the E2 and Pro Enduro classes.
But the weekend wasn’t over, and they all returned for day two, weary but knowing the intensity was about to go up a notch on the already rough and hammered course.
Ruprecht just couldn’t find his groove on Sunday and wasn’t able to match Milner. With Milner taking the day win and Ruprecht second in class and fourth Pro Enduro, left the former world champ frustrated by determined to make amends when they meet again at rounds five and six.
“The Cross Country went exactly to plan, well apart from that stall at the start of the race, where I was able to maintain a good pace and then step it up when required but today, I was just a bit off all day.
“No excuses at Daniel rode amazing, but I lost time in the grass track style areas of the track, so it’s something I need to go back and do some work on before we get to the next rounds.
“Again, the team did a great job, and the bike was good all weekend. Just need to clean up a few things and get back on track for the coming rounds,” Ruprecht ends.
It was a consistent performance from teammate Will Dennett, but not quite at the level he was wanting. Looking to capitalise on a great start to the season, Dennett was hoping to be at the pointy end all weekend and close the gap between himself and the lead pair.
He wasn’t able to make that happen, but banked solid points finishing fourth in the E2 class on both days and seventh outright on each occasion.
His Cross Country was marred by a heavy fall that saw his bike able to continue, but badly damaged as he nursed it home after three hours of racing. But Sunday Dennett didn’t have his usual spark and will be looking for more when the AEC hits South Australia.
“I took a pretty big hit on Saturday, which damaged the bike and took some wind out of my sails,” Dennett begins. “I didn’t really injure anything, but generally pretty sore so I just went into damage control to reduce any more crashes or have the bike stop because of the damage.
“I got a little better as the day went on during Sunday but not where I wanted to be. I dropped a couple of positions in the Pro Enduro class, and I need to get them back,” he explained.
The championship now heads for the softer soil of South Australia, and the ShopYamaha Team will be hard at work in the lead up to get things back on track.
