Image: John Pearson.

Reigning Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship title-holder Daniel Milner has embraced the added competition of Daniel Sanders for 2018 after the pair traded outright success at Gympie.

Although competing in separate classes – Milner in E3 and Sanders in E2 – much of the attention in Queensland was cast upon who lodged the quickest times overall.

KTM Enduro Racing Team’s Milner was unstoppable on his way to a perfect season last year while 2016 champion Sanders was trying his hand in Europe, however the latter’s return home with Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team has ignited one of the tightest rivalries the series has seen.

“Where we’re at is a good thing and the results this weekend were positive,” Milner reflected after going 1-1 in class, but unofficially 1-2 outright as he adapts to the 500 EXC-F. “To win outright on Saturday was awesome and then to get second today was also a close result, so I’m pretty happy with it knowing that we can still improve from here.

“The plan is to keep working, keep testing with the team and I know some areas we can get better, so it’s a good place to be in at the moment.

“Last year, in some ways, I probably had it a bit easy, so it’s good to have someone this year where we can push each-other and that’s something we all like to be a part of as racers. Now it’s time to get ready for the four-day and I’m most definitely excited for that!”

With Motorcycling Australia (MA) not officially awarding outright honours in the AORC, Milner and Sanders were dominant in their respective divisions, both comfortably clean-sweeping proceedings in rounds one and two.