HQVA press release:

Husqvarna racers Glenn Kearney, Lachy Stanford and junior ace Fraser Higlett all put the brand on the box in their respective classes as the Australian Off-Road Championships concluded at Monkerai, in New South Wales yesterday, with 15-year-old Higlett winning his first national title.

Noted for his smoothness, Husqvarna FE 350-mounted Lachy Stanford added a little more aggression to his approach and found his best form for the weekend, finishing third in class on both days and winning a last-gasp battle to keep third place in the E2 championship, which was won by Beau Ralston ahead of Chris Hollis.

The Byron Bay racer was sixth outright on both days, and finished in seventh position overall in the AORC championship, which was won by Toby Price ahead of Josh Green and Hollis. In doing so, Stanford finished one spot ahead of the boss in the overall standings, with Team Manager Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna FE 501) taking seventh after a championship marred by his recovery from off-season surgery – in which his damaged right ankle was fused – and the subsequent search for the perfect solution to his rear braking requirements.

After winning last year’s E3 championship, Kearney was still able to finish third in this year’s chase after finishing the season with 4,3 results in class, and 9,8 outright results at Monkerai.
In the junior 4 class, Husqvarna’s young junior ace Fraser Higlett wrapped up the first national championship of his racing career, taking out the class win on both days despite severe blisters to his hands. The double victories made it 10 wins from 12 rounds for the laid-back Brisbane rider.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney (FE501): “As a team it was good to get Lachy on the podium in what was a really strong class this year. He kept Tye at bay but unfortunately Hollis was able to leapfrog the pair of them into second in E2. The way Lachy rode today was really impressive, he had some really fast times and was aggressive on the bike – both Christian and I were really happy with how he put his day together. Especially with the pressure at the end, it pretty much all came down to the last test between a heap of them for both the outright and E2 and was really exciting to watch. I had a pretty ordinary weekend. I bit the dust pretty hard yesterday and landed on a rock shelf, tore my arm up and hurt my shoulder, so I sort of went into survival mode and missed the podium in E3 for only the second time this year. I had some good laps today but was a bit sore from yesterday, but no excuses – to see the season out on the podium is good.

My brake set up now is pretty much how we want it, and I’ve got nearly 2 months until the four-day to get on top of it. This year we grew as a team and I think saw some real flashes of brilliance from Lachy. I hope to watch him battle for a championship next year. He is still quite young, just as the team is. It’s only our second year, so after such a strong opening season it’s disappointing to not finish as well this year, but we’ve all grown together and I think next year we can have a real good strong hit out at trying to win some Championships again.”

Lachy Stanford (FE350): “I picked up more positives this weekend than I have all year. I think with a combination of bike setup and riding style I was really dialled. I’m just getting some bulldog in me, chasing those milliseconds where I used to be really relaxed and smooth – now I’m just going for it. I got some really good results, top three in a few tests and I was having a lot of fun. The tracks were technical and really dusty, rocky and rough. Today I had to, at worst, get one behind Tye and hold off Beau to get third in the championship, so I did both today and with third behind Simmonds I just got third in the championship – it was awesome to hold onto that. It was very tight in the last race and I only had four seconds on Beau, and was trying to catch Tye. I had a little crash, got back up and put a good effort in and I only lost one second to Beau so it was all good, I ended up getting him for the day even though Tye got me. All in all it was good to finish on a positive note. Very happy with that!”

Fraser Higlett (FE250): “It was a good weekend. The tracks were good and suited my style of riding. I got the win yesterday and today in J4 so it was good. It’s pretty good getting the win overall in the AORC, I never expected much at the start, but obviously I made it. Yesterday was a bit of a struggle with blisters and my hands were wearing out a bit, but I still got through yesterday with the win and today with the blisters slowing me down a bit I got the J4 win and second overall in juniors. The bike ran real good all weekend – it hasn’t let me down to the whole AORC so it’s pretty reliable. Reliability is pretty important in these races.”

For more information on Husqvarna motorcycles visit www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com.