HQVA press release:

Hard enduro ace Mitch Harper made a tough sport fraught with random outcomes look like an easy trailride when he dominated the weekend’s enduro-cross races at the high-profile Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race in Adelaide.

The 24-year-old Victorian on the MotoGC Husqvarna FE350 featured prominently in Friday’s and Sunday’s Enduro-X support events, but dominated the weekend’s crowning two-wheeled event, the New Holland Enduro-X Cup on Saturday.

Harper fought off four challengers in the head-to-head one-lap battles to stamp his authority early, then went on to win all three Enduro-X Cup motos, raising the glass Enduro-X trophy in the company of runner-up Toby Price and third placed Husqvarna charger Lachy Stanford.

Stanford kick-started his own approach to the off-road racing season in vigorous style, nailing down five podium finishes in total across the weekend.

While two Husqvarna men were running rampant in Adelaide, the news was much less positive for team boss Glenn Kearney, who fell during the last practice on Thursday and fractured his scapula in four places.

The timing is hellishly inconvenient for the multiple Australian enduro champ, who can only wait and see how long the healing process will take, as the opening AORC rounds draw large.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney (FE250): “It’s been an awesome event for us here in Adelaide. The exposure that Husqvarna got for enduro and dirt bikes in general was unbelievable. There were 65,000 people passing through the gates on Friday alone. Saturday night was fantastic with Harper winning and Lachy third behind Toby. Lachy had poor starts but showed his talent to come through the pack. He looks like he’s got some confidence and is going very well. On Thursday I fractured my shoulder blade in four places. It was my mistake. It was halfway through the last practice session on the Thursday afternoon and I was one of the people doing this log double. A don’t know whether it moved a little bit but I just didn’t get the pop that I had been and I stoved the front into the second log. The sports doctor here at Clipsal was pretty adamant that everything was in place and it’s just a matter of the bone healing. I’ll be back as soon as I can and will see what is possible once the AORC starts.”

Mitcham Harper (FE350): “I’m pretty stoked! I haven’t done that much racing in the last couple years, so it’s pretty good to win an intense race against those top boys. I love the two-stroke for the races like Wildwood, but the 350 power was perfect for this stuff. Unreal. I was probably the only rider here all weekend with a full stock bike barring the exhaust. I won one on Friday, all three yesterday and one today after Palmer crashed in front of me and his rear guard ended up going through my spokes, so I came from last to about fourth, and then I won that last one. It was a great weekend! I got great starts all weekend on the 350, against some top motocross riders and Toby Price and Peter Boyle who aren’t exactly new to the sport. It had perfect power over all the obstacles and was really smooth, and the stock suspension was surprisingly good for this level.”

Lachy Stanford (FE450/FE501): “I made some money which is cool. It was awesome, I didn’t know what to expect coming into it, because I’ve never been the best enduro-X rider and I wasn’t really comfortable with the track on Thursday. But I found some good lines and started jumping and getting the flow. Friday felt really good and I was pretty comfortable from there on, I had my lines and was not making any mistakes at all. The first race wasn’t the best but as the weekend went on I just got better and better. My fitness was awesome the whole way but I just couldn’t get a holeshot. But it was an awesome weekend for our sport.”

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