Image: John Pinnell.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team guest rider Mike Brown claimed victory in the opening round of the 2015 Australian Enduro-X Nationals, held at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway on Saturday night.

Brown dominated proceedings at the opener, winning his heats, setting the fastest qualifying lap and winning the overall from Josh Green (Active8 Yamaha) and Toby Price (KTM Off-Road Racing Team).

The FE 350 rider galloped to comfortable wins in the first and second heats, then took a safe second to Price in the third heat to ensure he would take the championship lead to Sydney Dragway in three weeks time.

“It’s been good all day, right from practice and heat races,” Brown explained. “I won all those and got the hot lap and just kept it going. That last race I knew that I could just position myself to get the overall.

“Toby rode good in that third one and I thought I would just finish off a good weekend with an overall win and not a crash. All these guys have got other stuff to do, but I’ve just been on endurocross since last year without stopping.

“The last two weeks I’ve been back in California training for this and I’m going back for testing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then back at it again here in Sydney.”

The results featured a mixture of young talent inside the top five, with KTM’s new recruit Daniel Sanders fourth ahead of CDR Yamaha signing Tom McCormack in fifth position.

The Women’s final saw multiple Australian Trials Champion Kristie McKinnon claim victory on board the KTM Freeride 250R, topping Tayla Jones and Jessica Gardiner on the podium.

2015 Australian Enduro-X Nationals
Round one – Archerfield Speedway, QLD

Overall results:
1. Mike Brown 72
2. Josh Green 60
3. Toby Price 57
4. Daniel Sanders 53
5. Tom McCormack 47
6. Mitch Harper 45
7. Dylan Rees 41
8. Tye Simmonds 38
9. Peter Boyle 38
10. Stefan Granquist 37

Championship standings:
1. Mike Brown 72
2. Josh Green 60
3. Toby Price 57
4. Daniel Sanders 53
5. Tom McCormack 47
6. Mitch Harper 45
7. Dylan Rees 41
8. Tye Simmonds 38
9. Peter Boyle 38
10. Stefan Granquist 37

Women’s final results:
1. Kirstie McKinnon
2. Tayla Jones
3. Jessica Gardiner
4. Emelie Karlsson
5. Jemma Wilson
6. Rihanna Buchanan
7. Amber Lock
8. Tamara Gray
9. Melissa Bruce

Women’s championship standings:
1. Kirstie McKinnon 25
2. Tayla Jones 22
3. Jessica Gardiner 20
4. Emelie Karlsson 18
5. Jemma Wilson 16
6. Rihanna Buchanan 15
7. Amber Lock 14
8. Tamara Gray 13
9. Melissa Bruce 12

Click here for detailed results