Price takes two at Aratula AORC rounds
Dominant run continues for defending series champion.
Image: John Hamilton (Mad Dog Images).
It was a case of more of the same for defending champion Toby Price with yet another Outright victory in round eight of 2015 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) at Aratula on Sunday.
The KTM Off-Road Racing Team rider (also the E3 class winner) held off another strong challenge from CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis (E2 class winner), who for the second day in succession threatened to break the four-time AORC champion’s extended winning run.
Active8 Yamaha’s Beau Ralston rounded out the podium, while Daniel Sanders (KTM Off-Road Racing Team) and Josh Green (Active8 Yamaha, E1 class winner) occupied the remaining positions in the top five.
The win tops off a remarkable month of racing for Price, in which he has gone through the last two AORC weekends undefeated (four outright wins) as well as claiming his fourth Finke Desert Race crown.
In the other classes, the 19 and Under category has been turned on its head with just 15 points separating the top four riders in the overall standings.
Suzuki rider Wil Ruprecht claimed round eight to make it two wins from two for the weekend, finishing ahead of new class leader Lyndon Snodgrass (Kawasaki) and Alex Papmanolis (Yamaha).
The 22 points Snodgrass gained from round eight was enough to see him leapfrog into first place in the overall standings, courtesy of previous leader Tom Mason missing the weekend with a broken collarbone and Peter Daniel Allen’s disqualification in this round due to leaving the designated track limits.
In the Women’s, Sunday’s result replicated that of Saturday’s with Tayla Jones continuing on her merry way with yet another win. Jemma Wilson and Emelie Karlsson made it a Yamaha 1-2-3 in the class with a second and third place respectively.
Suzuki privateer Trent Lean went one better than Saturday’s result to win the Masters’ class, while it was business as usual at the front of the field for Yamaha Racing’s Kirk Hutton in the Veteran’s class.
In the juniors, Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna) got the better of Ben Kearns (KTM) in their ongoing duel atop the J4 class, while Corey Hammond (KTM) broke Mitchell Brierley’s (Kawasaki) five-round winning streak in the J2 category. Joshua Brierley (Kawasaki) again claimed the J3 class.
The 2015 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship will now head to Kyogle, New South Wales, on 25-26 July for rounds nine and 10 of the series.
2015 Australian Off-Road Championship
Round eight – Aratula, QLD
Outright results:
1. Toby Price (E3)
2. Chris Hollis (E2)
3. Beau Ralston (E2)
4. Daniel Sanders (E3)
5. Josh Green (E1)
6. Tye Simmonds (E2)
7. Lachlan Stanford (E2)
8. Broc Grabham (E2)
9. Glenn Kearney (E3)
10. Scott Keegan (E2)
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