In his return to the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC), Daniel Milner has picked up right where he left off in dominating both class and outright results despite coming up against a new generation of racers. For some, it’s come as a surprise, while for others it was simply expected.

The multi-time national champion departed Australia following the pandemic-affected 2021 season to contest the EnduroGP World Championship, reigniting his career overseas by initially joining the Fantic D’Arpa Racing team, before moving to TM Racing on a two-year deal that should have seen him race-on through the current 2024 season. Both years were tough, especially given the added complexity of having a young family in tow, but it was the right decision at the time.

A difficult period with limited success on an international scale ultimately meant that Milner failed to see out his final year of the deal, returning home to Australia and reuniting with KTM for this year’s off-road season, albeit operating his own program under the DM31 Racing banner. It was a fitting reunion and one that came at a critical time for the Austrian group after Yamaha had begun to take a stranglehold on the AORC series.

“It feels good to be back on the KTM and to be racing in Australia again,” he said at the start of the season. “I didn’t really enjoy my time racing with different teams in Europe, but now I feel comfortable and strong again, and can push where I need to push. It’s exciting to be back out there and picking up where I left off a few years ago… Hopefully this year I can give the boys someone to chase and get the speed of Australian racers up.”

During the prime of his domestic career, including a successful five-year stint with the then-factory KTM team after previously winning multiple titles in blue, Milner was exceptional between 2017-2021, winning the AORC title outright on three occasions, alongside an assortment of E2 and E3 class championships. He also won the 2018 Australian Four-Day Enduro (A4DE) and three Hattah Desert Race, in addition to his ISDE success both individually and with Team Australia.

That era largely saw Milner and current Dakar Rally contender – as well as long-time rival – Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders dominate the scene, elevating the domestic level of competition to world-class standards. Along with the likes of world champion Wil Ruprecht, Lyndon Snodgrass and Mason Semmens (who are all now firmly established overseas), the now-retired former Yamaha duo of Luke Styke and Josh Green, the top of the timesheets were often headlined by the same names for a number of years.

In the Victorian’s absence while Milner was trying his hand at European competition, a new generation of AORC contenders have emerged and stepped up to the plate, with the likes of Kyron Bacon, Jonte Reynders, Korey McMahon, Riley McGillivray, and young gun Will Dennett all coming to the forefront in recent years. It was Bacon, in particular, though, that most were curious about – was he good enough to take on Milner head-to-head, regardless of effectively racing in different classes (E2 vs E1)?

So far, and despite being in his early 30s, Milner has continued to cement himself as the benchmark in AORC, winning all eight rounds across four stops in E2, and dominating the outright times on seven occasions. It’s safe to say that he’s in the box seat to add yet another Australian championship to his name with the AORC ticking over the halfway mark, and setting the benchmark for those behind him to try and match. Still, he is aware that it’s not plain sailing and also that the dry, dusty conditions experienced in 2024 make for an added challenge.

“On a whole, it was a good weekend and I was able to keep my perfect season going,” he said after QMP on Sunday afternoon. “The bike didn’t miss a beat and I was able to win both days. The conditions were brutal! Saturday wasn’t quite so bad, but we spent six hours on the bike and as a result I was a bit fatigued on Sunday. I went down in the first test and after that I just had to concentrate on minimising the mistakes as the tracks got rougher. The times were a lot tighter today as the boys behind me sent it, but I was able to still get it done.”