HQVA press release:

Husqvarna Factory Support racer Mitch Harper got the better of a last-race arm-wrestle with team mate Broc Grabham to win the weekend’s Yeppoon Enduro-X in Central Queensland.

The Victorian hard enduro ace, who earlier this year dominated in impressive company at the enduro-cross support races at the high-profile Clipsal 500 Supercar race in Adelaide, joined fellow Husqvarna Support racer Broc Grabham in the journey north at the recommendation of young team mate Fraser Higlett, who won the Junior Lites there in 2015.

The Keppel Coast Dirt Bike Club’s sizeable, flowing course creatively combines obstacles from the existing motocross track with more typical nduro-X fare such as man-made log mounds, rock piles, mining vehicle tires and beach sand, and the Husqvarna Factory Support boys found it a fun challenge.

Harper powered out of the blocks to win the first of three enduro-x races on his MotoGC Husqvarna FE350, but it was Broc Grabham, in excellent form after his last-start AORC overall podium, who stole the second moto aboard his Husqvarna FE450 and set up the showdown.

Harper got the best of the contest that followed to lead Grabham home, whil;e Fraser Higlett – this year racing the big boys, cracked his first podium finish of the day on his Husqvarna FE 350, for an all Husqvarna top three.

The points tallied, Harper took the overall win from Grabham, with Wil Ruprecht third ahead of Daniel Kavanagh and Higlett coming home fifth.

Harper backed up to win the top-ten shootout by almost two seconds, this time ahead of Ruprecht, with Grabham 48 thousandths of a second behind, and Higlett fourth.

Mitch Harper (FE350): “It was a pretty good event, they had a few AORC guys and a few of the local motocross riders and a few there from Rockhampton. The course was kind of half motocross and half man-made. It was a good course. I did a lot of motocross as a junior and still do a bit – I go pretty well at it – so combining it with the technical stuff suited me quite well. I won the first one – I got taken out by some motocross rider on the first lap going over some tyres and ended up pretty much last – but I ended up winning still. I got hit on the logs again in the second one. The motocross riders don’t do that much technical riding and they were all over the place, but I got up again. Passed Broc on the last lap, and then I took a different line because he was on mine, and I lost the front. So I ended up third in that one. I went in to the final tied on points, but I made the pass and then slowly pulled away. We had a Top-10 shootout too, and our fastest time during the race was a 1:50, but Wil and Broc got a 1:48! I thought that seemed pretty quick, but then I went out and got a 1:45. So that was awesome. It was an awesome event. It seems like a really good club with a lot of volunteer work behind the track and it was well catered for. A well run event.”

Broc Grabham (FE450): “I’d never been that far north in Queensland before, so it was good to go up and have a look around. It was great to see a new club and a new track and everyone was great up there. There wasn’t a massive number of riders, but a heap of spectators. It was only 4 kays from Yeppoon and they had shuttle buses and that, it was good! We did three, four-lap races, and the first one I got hit a bit because the start went straight into a big log, which was a bit wild, but anyway. I nearly fell over and got going with my bent levers from the first corner, so I was trying to straighten that as I went. I made a charge, then had a little fall, then charged back through and got third. I holeshotted the next one, led it from start to finish and won, then in the last, whoever won out of Harper and I would win. We both got good starts, but I slipped a bit over the first obstacle and he just got ahead of me. By that stage the track was a bit one-lined and I just had to try to pass in the rock garden, but I couldn’t get it done. I was still happy to get second – Harper’s really good in that stuff, so it’s okay.”

Fraser Higlett (FE350): “It’s pretty fun, I like the enduro-X races. The first two races I was taking pretty crappy lines, but in the last one I picked it up a bit, and got a third. So that was good. It was pretty tough at the starts against all the motocrossers, me and Mitch got caught up in the first one, but he obviously came back from that pretty well. The last race was pretty fun, I started right back and hads to work my way up through everyone, but I had some good lines, and I got third. I’ll definitely be back, Yeppoon is probably one of my favourite races of the year I reckon. It’s real well organised and you don’t get to do enduro-X that often, so it’s good to do it.”

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