KTM Australia press release:

When other bikes and riders were dropping around them, KTM Enduro Racing Team riders Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders and Tye Simmonds proved their – and their bikes’ – resilience in one of the most testing AORC rounds ever seen.

Saturday’s Round 7 of the championship was a three-hour cross country in diabolical conditions that variously included wind, rain, sleet and hail on terrain that was largely covered in standing water before the event even began.

Today’s sprint round might have brought out the sun, but the conditions retained many of the challenges, although Sanders didn’t seem to notice them as he powered his KTM 300 EXC to his third double round win of the year – opening up a 28 point lead in the Australian Off-Road Championship.

KTM Team mate Simmonds was equally consistent and almost as fast, taking his KTM 450 EXC to E2 class victory on both days, and finishing runner-up in the outright standings for both rounds, ahead of Husqvarna’s Lyndon Snodgrass.

Off-road racing rookie Jack Simpson continued his stellar introduction to the genre, giving KTM a perfect trifecta of the three capacity classes as he charged to a pair of E1 victories, spectacularly taking fourth outright on birthdays in the process.

In the Transmoto 19 and Under class, Nic Tomlinson struggled with a work-related lack of recent bike time, and could only manage two, five class placings for the weekend, aboard his KTM 300 EXC.

Ben Grabham – KTM Enduro Racing Team Manager: “It was a fantastic result for the whole team both in class and in the championship. Daniel and Tye went 1-2 both days with Daniel topping both. The format was cross-country yesterday and sprint today. Yesterday saw some of the wildest and trickiest conditions I’ve ever seen in my days of racing, with hail, crazy winds, sun, sleet and pretty much anything you could think of. The KTM EXCs were amazing in conditions that a lot of other bikes suffered in. Chucky came from back to front on Saturday and Tye started well and looked solid all day. Those two boys pretty much gapped everyone else and had a clean run in pretty horrible conditions. Then did it all again today. So we’re looking pretty good now. Chucky’s got a pretty comfortable lead and Tye has moved into second outright and is also leading E2, so I couldn’t be happier. Full credit to everyone in the team this weekend, they were kept on their toes – you couldn’t put a foot wrong or you would have dramas.”

Daniel “Chucky” Sanders – KTM 300 EXC “It was a good weekend. I got to play in the mud and it was great. I’ve been racing there for five years now so I know the track pretty well, and the conditions are good when it’s wet, I enjoy it and I perform well. There was only one really wet section, the rest of the track was perfect. I had a bit of a scare off the start of the race, I went through that first lake and got blocked breather hose and the bike stopped. It going again and came back from 50 seconds behind and pulled through to first after three laps, then lead the rest of the race from there. Coming from South Oz where I injured my ankle and just had to push through and get as many points as I could, it’s good to put everything together an extent that points lead.”

Tye Simmonds – KTM 450 EXC “It was pretty treacherous this weekend. I’ve raced muddier races, but going across those flats through the water, your bike would be taking on that much water that it would nearly stop. But we pulled through. It hailed four or five times during the race. At first you didn’t pay that much attention to it, but then you’d get to a couple of spots where the ground was just white with hail! It was pretty funny in the tight stuff but then you’d really know that it was hail when you got cracking along a big wide-open straight and just stung like all buggery! Pretty unusual. It felt like a roost but it was ice coming from the sky. It made for an adventure – it rained for an hour and a half to 2 hours of the race. For me it was survival mode all weekend really. Great to be leading E2 and second outright. Lachy and Hollis had bad runs this weekend, but I’ve had my turn already. Today we benefited from the Golden Tyre paddle tyre quite a lot. I started with a knobby and then went to the paddle and it made a huge difference. Coming across the water it really surprised me.”

Jack Simpson – KTM 250 SX-F “Awesome, I’m ecstatic. I started off the cross country with an ordinary start, but I did 80% of my passing in the first two corners, and a couple of people crashed in front of me in the very early stages of the race. Then I was in third. I had a couple of crashes but I stayed there until I ended up getting pipped as I was stuck on the tyres, and that’s all she wrote! I love those conditions. The training grounds I’ve got are the same kind of textured dirt to what we were racing in. I was out Tuesday and Thursday in the rain riding my practice track because I knew the conditions were going to be like that. I live about 80k away – it’s the same soil! I’m fifth now, so that’s great – not bad for a novice off-road racer! The KTM 250 SX-F didn’t miss a beat, even through the lakes we had to ride through – aquaplaning through the swamp ground – not one fault. It was as tough as nails.”

Nic Tomlinson – KTM 300EXC “Lately I’m not getting enough time on the bike with work, that’s all I can put my result down to here. I had a few little dramas but nothing major. I was just really tense on the bike and wasn’t relaxed enough. Yesterday I kept making silly little mistakes, but I’ve just got to keep working at ironing it out. I didn’t feel too bad today but was a bit off the pace in the first and had a stupid little crash in the last one that put me way back.”

For more information on KTM motorcycles visit www.ktm.com.au or www.facebook.com/KTMAustralia.