HQVA press release:

Asked how he would describe this weekend’s Hattah Desert Race to a rider who never been there, Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney replied, “I’d say, expect probably the hardest race you are ever going to do”.

Kearney is unashamedly passionate about the annual pilgrimage to the four-hour sand race held near Mildura, which is a favourite among cross-country racers who thrive on its unique combination of challenges, including an epic atmosphere that infects the whole regional city, insanely high speeds, the absorbing tactical challenge of a constantly evolving track that ramps up into an incredibly testing battle of physical and mental toughness.

On the back of a successful seventh and eighth round of the Australian Off-Road Championships at Aratula in which Kearney registered his strongest ride this year and Lachy Stanford pocketed another Queensland enduro championship, the Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team has been in full desert race preparation mode for the last week.

The team is hungry to come up with its best possible result in 2015, with all riders last year having been struck down in the week before the event with a gastro illness and Stanford failing to finish after disintegrating a mousse tube with two laps to go.

This year, Stanford will join the boss in targeting outright finishing positions, and will enter a Husqvarna FE 501 in the premier class.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney (FE501): “With Hattah, you expect probably the hardest race you’re ever going to do. They grade the track beforehand, but with the amount of riders and bikes on that sand, it changes from a highway into the roughest track you’ve ever ridden. You’ve really got to be on your game to ride really fast on smooth terrain, and then adapt to the track as it becomes more and more brutal. I really enjoy it. For some reason I still love the punishment of the four-hour, the challenge of trying to be faster than everyone else at the end of a gruelling event like that. And I’ve only won it once, so it would be nice to do it again, and knocking Toby Price off while he is riding the way he is you’d really have something to claim!
We’ve put Lachy on the 501 this weekend. He’s obviously big enough and he loves it anyway – he rode one in the Six Days last year so he’s more than comfortable on it. The 350 is an awesome machine, but when you need to be travelling 150-160 clicks, the 500 is going to do it for you a lot easier.”

Lachy Stanford (FE501): “I’m pumped. We got to Mildura last Thursday and we’ve pretty much ridden every day since, doing some decent sized motos. There’s so much good riding and it’s good for our training to mix things up and get away from the same old program at home. We’ve mainly focused on trying to get our conditioning right and our bike setup as close as possible to what we’ll need for the track. It’s definitely a physical challenge here, I think it would be the hardest race in Australia, but at the same time it’s definitely one of the most fun! Just the way they close off the main street on Friday night for scrutineering, and then you go out and prologue on the Saturday, with the main race on Sunday. I’m going to ride the 500 out here because you just need the most speed with the massive straights that they have here. Even on the 450 last year, you lose positions on the straights. I think my speed will be there, but you need some luck here as well.”

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