HQVA press release:

Husqvarna’s up-and-coming Factory Support racers continue to be some of the most exciting movers in the AORC, after Broc Grabham almost matched teenager Lyndon Snodgrass’ last-start podium pair, with a 5,3 haul of his own at the weekend’s penultimate stop on the calendar at Monkerai in New South Wales.

The twenty-two-year-old from Bathurst – who early in the championship identified his season goal as ‘cracking the top 10 regularly’ – cracked his career-first AORC outright top five on Saturday, then powered his Husqvarna FE450 to his career-first outright podium finish on Sunday.

Grabham also rode to second in the hotly contested E2 category on both days, shoring up his third position in the title chase. Runaway series leader Daniel Sanders won both of the weekend’s rounds outright, ahead of Tye Simmonds.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney was also showing plenty of pace, and was the top points-scorer in the E1 category after finishing second on Saturday and winning on Sunday, taking 8,6 outright positions in the process.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team rider and four-time AORC podium finisher this year, Lachy Stanford, rode in damage control with the still-healing hand he broke at the last round three weeks ago.

Still in plenty of pain and having not ridden his bike since then, the Husqvarna FE501 rider’s ride to 15,9 outright finishes was a gritty one as he eked out 18 AORC championship points which may prove extremely valuable, and maintained his second place in the E3 championship, behind runaway AORC series leader Daniel Sanders.

Husqvarna TE300-mounted 18-year-old Lyndon Snodgrass couldn’t quite match his last-start heroics as he finished with 10,11 outright results and 3,4 results in the E3 class, while 16-year-old Brisbane rider Fraser Higlett equalled his highest finish in the Transmoto Under 19 class with a second place on Saturday, before finishing fifth in class yesterday.

Husqvarna factory support racer Mitch Harper was a notable absentee on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, after the young Enduro-X expert aggravated his back on Saturday morning and was forced to withdraw.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney (FE250): “I won the E1 today so that was great, but I was back in sixth outright. I was fast enough – had a couple of second outrights to Chucky – but I seemed to be either fast or on the ground. The club did an awesome job with the track, it was a real enduro course with a bit of everything. I started okay yesterday, got up to fourth but then I had a couple of issues and a decent crash and finished second. I was pretty happy with the toughness that Lachy showed. He had a tough weekend with his hand injury. He soldiered through, and got what could be valuable points in the end. Today he came out and was able to get on the podium in the class. The standout for Husky was Broc with 4,3 outright – a really impressive ride. Snodgrass showed a few glimpses of speed, but had quite a few crashes. And young Fraser had a good day yesterday. Like a typical young feller he hits the deck a few times and whatnot – he was second Saturday and rode real well, but he was fifth Sunday. I’m really impressed with him, he’s only just 16 and the guys he’s racing against, it is probably their last year in Under 19’s. He’s got huge potential.”

Broc Grabham (FE450): “Fifth outright on Saturday and third today – I finally pulled my finger out a little bit. This second half of the year is going great for me so far, the bike is set up perfectly for me and every time I hop on it I feel comfortable to hit everything as fast as I can. To be honest though, I wasn’t sure how I was going to go here, because since last Saturday I’ve been sick. Friday was the first day I could stomach anything. I wasn’t sure I was going to have any energy to hang on to the bike. In the cross-country I didn’t get a real good start but I charged through and passed everyone, so that helped my confidence knowing that I had the speed to pass those guys. The sprints today were good, except the fourth one, I caught Tye and got into some dust and had a bit of a cart wheel going up the hill. Probably only cost me 11 or 12 seconds but I was still able to hold Hollis off. I think I got him by two seconds by the end of the day. It was close racing going into the last test for third, fourth and fifth with me, Beau and Hollis. There was only eight seconds separating us all. I was nervous going into the last one because I knew I needed to push hard, but I couldn’t be silly and crash.”

Lyndon Snodgrass (TE300): “Saturday I lost five minutes in the first two laps because of a bit of weed mat caught in my wheel from the top of this bridge. So I was outside the top 30 and worked my way back to 10th, which was good. Sunday started off strong, I think I was sitting well inside the top 10 but then I had a bit of a moment and hit my head on a tree, and dropped outside the top 10. I lost 40 seconds in one of my heats, so that was a bit of a setback, and it was a bit late in the day to catch up again. But these things happen. The Husqvarna 300 was good in both the muddy and the dry conditions! I think I’m three points down in fourth at the moment, heading into the last round in Victoria, so I’ll be training hard and hopefully have a good run in Victoria.”

Lachy Stanford (FE501): “It was definitely a tough one – at the last round I broke the top of my hand and across my pinkie as well, so I haven’t ridden the bike since then which hasn’t been ideal preparation. I just had to tough it out this weekend, and it was a very rough cross-country. It was easier today, I was able to have the ice and some pain medication in between sprints but it still wasn’t the best result for me. I’ve lost the third outright to Hollis so I’ll have to come back hard at the next round. I’ll be doing a little bit of training with Glenn in the next few weeks and try to get myself back up front. A month’s break before the next round is perfect for me. A big thanks to the Husky Enduro Team for the support this weekend.”

Fraser Higlett (FE350): “It was tough here. Yesterday a couple of people’s bikes broke down, so it was pretty good to just get that done. I was winning in the Under 19s but I dinged my header pipe in, and it ran a bit rough. I got second behind Ben Kearns; he was my main rival in Juniors last year so it was good to see him back up there. Today I struggled, because the ruts were real long and awkward and you couldn’t really avoid them. I haven’t really been training on ruts, so we crashed a couple of times …but we got it done and got fifth today.”

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