Monkerai shapes up as thrilling off-road conclusion.
The 2015 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship may reach its finale in Monkerai this weekend, but the race for the title in a number of classes still remains up for grabs.
Despite wrapping up the overall championship in the last round at Kyogle, KTM Off-Road Racing Team rider and now five-time AORC champion Toby Price still has the E3 class to secure this weekend.
Currently leading the class by 26 points, Price would only need to finish ahead of teammate Daniel Sanders in round 11 to put the class result beyond doubt.
Things are a bit tighter in the E2 class standings, with Active8 Yamaha’s Beau Ralston (206 points) holding out Husqvarna Off-Road Team’s Lachlan Stanford (194) and KTM Off-Road Racing Team rider Tye Simmonds (193).
CDR Yamaha’s Chris Hollis (189) is in the midst of a hot streak following his two E2 class wins and round nine Outright victory in Kyogle last month, but injuries in the middle of the year have halted his charge towards class honours this season.
The E1 class title has all but been confirmed, with Active8 Yamaha’s Josh Green (250) undefeated all year to lead Honda Privateer Tom Kite (202) and KTM Privateer Riley Graham (196).
The 19 and Under class has been closely fought battle all year, so it is of no surprise to anyone that the class championship will go right down to the wire in the final rounds this weekend.
Both Bolton’s KTM rider Tom Mason and Kawasaki Junior KX Squad rider Lyndon Snodgrass sit on 189 points, while MX1 Australia Suzuki Off-Road Team’s Wil Ruprecht (175) has been riding well in the second half of the year and will undoubtedly be putting the heat on the top two over the course of the weekend.
The Women’s class standings mirror that of the E1s, with Yamaha’s Tayla Jones unbeaten (250) to put the result effectively beyond the reach of Yamaha Racing teammate Jemma Wilson (202).
Fellow Yamaha rider Kirk Hutton has also claimed victory in all ten rounds thus far to have the Veterans class all sown up, while MX1 Australia Suzuki Off-Road Team’s Trent Lean will be looking to sign-off the season in the best possible fashion by winning the Masters class title at his home track.
In the juniors, Husqvarna’s Fraser Higlett is well positioned to take out the J4 class, while Josh Brierley can relax knowing he already has the J3 class within his grasp. Josh’s twin brother Mitchell Brierley meanwhile looks set to close out the J2 title.