HQVA Press release:

The combination of Lachy Stanford and Husqvarna’s mighty FE501 established itself as a legitimate championship contender in this year’s Australian Off-Road Championships as the series kicked off in tricky conditions at Kilkivan near Gympie in Queensland over the weekend.

The smooth flowing, lanky rider from Byron Bay exuded class in the fast, dusty terrain and rocky creek beds as he finished the weekend with a second behind Daniel Sanders in Saturday’s round one, then backed that up with third outright behind Sanders and Josh Green for round two.

Behind him, Team Boss Glenn Kearney epitomised guts and determination, riding his Husqvarna FE250 with a two-week-old shoulder blade fracture in order to get points towards his tilt at the E1 championship.

The wily veteran employed some mild painkillers, a bucket of strapping tape and some creative adjustment to his attack position and line selection, and he was justly rewarded with seventh and fifth in class.

If that wasn’t a classic illustration of the legendary tough Husqvarna enduro racer, then Husqvarna FE 350 rider Mitch Harper’s effort may have nailed it.

On Saturday morning Harper clipped a tree stump at speed with his left foot, rode to 4th in E2 and 8th outright, then bandaged it tightly on Saturday evening so he would still be able to get back into his boot on Sunday, and headed off to walk the next day’s track.

Only after a heavy crash on Sunday sent the victim of two previous spinal injuries – who still carries titanium rods and five fused vertebrae in his thoracic spine – to hospital for x-rays to his lumbar spine, did subsequent x-rays reveal that he had raced Saturday’s AORC round with two fractured metatarsals in his left foot. Thankfully doctors could find no new damage to his back.

Husqvarna Factory Support racers Broc Grabham and Lyndon Snodgrass both battled in skatey conditions, Grabham taking fifth and seven in the E2 class, with Snodgrass kicking off his senior AORC career with a pair of fifth places in E3.

Sixteen-year-old Fraser Higlett made an impressive debut in the Under 19 category, finishing with second and fourth in class.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney (FE250): “Lachy was exceptional. He finally did what I’ve been saying he’s going to do for a long time. He was only ever seconds away from Chucky on Saturday, then today came out swinging, set some fastest laps, went off the boil in the middle, but was able to regroup. I was very impressed. For me yesterday was a struggle with the speed and the heavy braking demands on my shoulder – today suited me better. I used a lot of strapping tape and just a few Panadol and Nurofens. I was thinking about throwing in the towel yesterday when it was hurting and but I stuck with it and got some class points. Today I thought I’d be fairly sore but the shoulder felt looser so that was a confidence booster for me. I managed fifth in class, I think I was only eight seconds off second, and 12th outright. So I was happy given what we had to work with. Mitch rode really well in the fast stuff against some of the world’s best guys. Broc and Lyndon probably weren’t where they expected to be but these conditions were tough. Fraser did really well with 2nd and 4th, but had some mistakes and crashes.”

Lachy Stanford (FE501): “I’m stoked at how things went this weekend. I was only out of the top three in 3 to 4 tests over the whole weekend. Really happy with my performance. A huge thanks to the Husqvarna Enduro Team for supporting me and showing me where I can improve. Glenn was sharing advice with me and Jon Hafey came along too; he has a lot of knowledge and helped a lot. The FE501 was just amazing. It was unreal and I felt really fast and comfortable. The Saturday track was quite skatey – I was glad for my Pirelli tyres – and today’s track was a lot rougher, but I was only a second off the lead in the last test. It shows that all the hard pre-season work is starting to pay off.”

Broc Grabham (FE450): “I struggled a bit all weekend with the track conditions. It was a difficult track to go fast on, a lot of people ended up going to hospital today. I was a bit scared really. They were mostly the same tracks as last year so much of it was already pretty much flogged out before we started with big ruts and roots sticking through and braking bumps already, so they only got worse. It wasn’t a bad start to the series though, I ended up 10th outright yesterday and I think 15th today, and there are a lot of rounds to go.”

Lyndon Snodgrass (TE300): “I’m happy to come away from the first and second rounds of the AORC with solid points in fifth place. I was really happy with the TE 300, it was awesome and I feel really comfortable on it. I just need to work on my consistency a bit with my sprints and just minimise my mistakes.”

Fraser Higlett (FE350): “I made a few too many mistakes, but, I’m learning and overall it was good. On Saturday I was 19 outright and a second in U19, which is pretty good because I had a couple of big crashes, not the kind that you want to be having all the time. There was no damage that couldn’t be fixed though, and I still rode today and got 4th in U19 and 22nd outright. I think I was taking it a bit easier today, the crash I had in that last sprint on Saturday scared me a bit. My bike was awesome, I haven’t even done the suspension yet, but I’m pretty sure I’m sitting third in the Under 19 championship, so I’m pretty happy with that start to the season.”

Mitch Harper (FE350): “In the second sprint today, I came around and went to go over some tree roots and one kicked me out sideways and crossed me up and I came off. I tweaked my back a bit – it felt a bit funny so I got my breath back and crawled off the track, but I didn’t want to take any chances because of my previous injuries and I pulled out for the day. According the scans I’ve had tonight the back looks okay, but the stump I hit yesterday morning fractured two of my metatarsals…”

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