Off Road

Yamaha AORC delivers a spectacle as season 2018 kicks off at Gympie

Milner, Sanders, Styke and Driscoll Ride to Victory

Posted:

Saturday, March 10th, 2018

9:04 PM

Daniel Milner took up where he left of last season with the KTM Enduro Racing Team rider taking a convincing win in the E3 class: Photo: John Pearson Media

It was an intriguing opening day to the start to the 2018 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC), season for Rounds 1 and 2 at Gympie QLD.

The day featured a number of interesting results as the sprint tests were won by Daniel Milner (E3), Daniel Sanders (E2), Luke Styke (E1) and Michael Driscoll (EJ). Milner and Sanders times in particular were outstanding today and took the attention of the crowd.

E3
Maintaining his perfect record since 2017 was Daniel Milner of the KTM Enduro Racing Team who was as impressive as we‰Ûªve ever seen him. Milner defeated his rival Kane Hall by a convincing four minutes and 55 seconds. Motul Pirelli Sherco Team‰Ûªs, Andrew Wilksch had a steady day lodging a top three position. Wilksch will be looking to elevate his position and take the fight to Hall tomorrow. Broc Grabham and Jesse Lawton completed the top five. Milner's rivals will need to up their game to take the fight to the reigning champion. Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team rider, Lachlan Stanford was was relegated to eighth, after receiving a five minute penalty for deviating off the course, giving him an accumulated time of 1:23:48.113.

Milner sharing; "It's great to start the year off with a win that's for sure and pick up where we left off in 2017. It was hard race today and I pushed as hard as I could. The bike was unreal, there's always areas where we can improve but its hard to complain when we have collected the win. We'll try to improve the bike for tomorrow and go from there."

Daniel Sanders was immense in the opening three tests but had an unfortunate fall mid-day. Despite missing out on a significant amount of time, the Victorian still chalked up the victory. John Pearson Media

E2
It was an impressive return to AORC competition for Daniel Sanders, registering a win for the Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team. Chucky was immense in the opening three tests but had an unfortunate fall mid-day. Despite missing out on a significant amount of time, the Victorian still chalked up the victory. Finishing a further 79 seconds behind was Active8 Yamaha Yamalube‰Ûªs Racing Team‰Ûªs Josh Green. Green who is looking as fit as he has ever been, rued missing out on the win, but will likely come on strong for tomorrow‰Ûªs sprints. The top three position went to last year‰Ûªs E3 Champion, Lyndon Snodgrass who didn‰Ûªt get off to the best start,Snodgrass will be looking to take the fight to rivals Sanders and Green tomorrow. Stefan Granquist came fourth on his Yamaha. Former A4DE and AORC champion, Chris Hollis was mighty on his Suzuki Machine, registering a fifth-place finish on his return.

E1
Delivering an outstanding victory for Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Team was former Motocross Champion, Luke Styke for the first round of the season. It was a battle between himself and Jack Simpson on his KTM. Styke really coming into form in the second half of the day. In the end, eight seconds separated the two E1 rivals at the finish. Coming in third was the ever impressing Nic Tomlinson on his Yamaha, a podium placing being a sensational way to get the season started. French talent, Jeremy Carpentier (Yamaha MX Store Ballard's Off-Road Team) finished in the top four, with Thomas Ravenhors (Yamaha) completing the top five. Husqvarna Endruo Racing Team rider, Fraser Higlett was was relegated to ninth, after receiving a five minute penalty for deviating off the course, giving him an accumulated time of 1:24:28.746.

EJ
Reigning champion, Michael Driscoll was simply unstoppable on his Yamaha, and has really staked his claim to go back to back this season. Coming second was Husqvarna mounted Joshua Brierley, who finished a further 97 seconds back. Brierley is a highly rated young prospect, so we can expect him to take the fight to Driscoll soon enough. Coming third was Corey Hammond, riding a KTM machine.

E3 Provisional Results
1. Daniel Milner ‰ÛÒ 1:16:27.993
2. Kane Hall ‰ÛÒ 1:21:23.975
3. Andrew Wilksch ‰ÛÒ 1:21:37.613
4. Broc Grabham ‰ÛÒ 1:22:35.077
5. Jesse Lawton ‰ÛÒ 1:22:36.187
6. Jamie Robins ‰ÛÒ 1:23:08.878
7. Thomas Mason ‰ÛÒ 1:23:23.649
8. Lachlan Stanford‰ÛÒ 1:23:48.133
9. Adam Giles ‰ÛÒ 1:26:10.078
10. Casey Treasure - 1:27:02.661

E2 Provisional Results
1. Daniel Sanders ‰ÛÒ 1:16:33.580
2. Joshua Green ‰ÛÒ 1:17:52.785
3. Lyndon Snodgrass ‰ÛÒ 1:20:13.306
4. Stefan Granquist ‰ÛÒ 1:20:17.710
5. Christopher Hollis ‰ÛÒ 1:20:42.673
6. Riley Graham ‰ÛÒ 1:21:31.391
7. Matt Murry ‰ÛÒ 1:25:32.860
8. Sean Holmes ‰ÛÒ 1:26:05.816
9. Brent Dean ‰ÛÒ 1:26:47.969
10. Stuart Holt ‰ÛÒ 1:27:28.645

E1 Provisional Results
1. Luke Styke ‰ÛÒ 1:19:12.426
2. Jack Simpson ‰ÛÒ 1:19:20.753
3. Nicolas Tomlinson ‰ÛÒ 1:20:50.735
4. Jeremy Carpentier ‰ÛÒ 1:21:15.201
5. Thomas Ravenhors ‰ÛÒ 1:21:48.980
6. Baylee Davies ‰ÛÒ 1:23:18.668
7. Peter-Daniel Allan ‰ÛÒ 1:23:22.730
8. Brad Hardaker ‰ÛÒ 1:23:30.881
9. Fraser Higlett‰ÛÒ 1:24:28.746
10. Andrew Janke ‰ÛÒ 1:25:57.601

EJ Provisional Results
1. Michael Driscoll ‰ÛÒ 1:21:19.778
2. Joshua Brierley ‰ÛÒ 1:22:57.020
3. Corey Hammond ‰ÛÒ 1:25:03.111
4. Lachlan Allan ‰ÛÒ 1:25:18.107
5. Harry Teed ‰ÛÒ 1:25:24.023
6. Mitchell Brierley ‰ÛÒ 1:25:28.805
7. Luke Allan ‰ÛÒ 1:25:59.502
8. Ashden Gramlick ‰ÛÒ 1:28:20.597
9. Cooper Sheidow ‰ÛÒ 1:28:41.413
10. Dalton Johnson ‰ÛÒ 1:15:36.980