Stefan Merriman is the E1 class champion of the Australian Off Road Championship.

Former World Enduro Champion Stefan Merriman has admitted that his experience in Europe helped boost him to the Outright victory during last weekend’s final round of the Yamaha Australian Off Road Championship at Salisbury in NSW.

Merriman, 38, had a cracker of a day in round nine, with his World Enduro Championship experience really shining through on the grueling, 18-minute track in treacherous conditions.

The YZ250F rider took the Outright win of the round – his second round win of the year – by an impressive four minutes and eight seconds.

“It was like a European race,” Merriman said. “The hills were pretty long, rutted and very slippery.

“The biggest drama was not to burn out your clutch. A lot of guys were having troubles like that, they’d overcook their clutch, then have to stop and wait for it to cool down.

“The mud made it hard, you had to change your goggles so often. But Lexy was there and so was my mechanic, Steven Clarke – they were flat out and did a brilliant job.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to beat Matt Phillips, but he had trouble with his clutch. I’m really happy with my result, it was great.”

Merriman won the E1 class title this season, also claiming second Outright behind teammate Chris Hollis.