Yamaha Motor Australia Press release:

Active8 Yamaha Yamalube’s Josh Green and Beau Ralston have laid done solid foundations for their Australian Off Road Championship (AORC) aspirations after the opening round of the championship was contested at Kilkivan in Queensland over the weekend.

New signing and Australia’s fastest female racer, Tayla Jones, also made her debut for the team and put in a very respectable effort in what now is an ultra-competitive E1 men’s class.

In hot and humid conditions, the Active8 Yamaha Yamalube teamsters set about getting their championship off on the right foot. Over-night rain on Saturday night improved conditions but the heat was relentless and made competitors work for their results.

Josh Green, the 2015 E1 (250cc) champion, has stepped up to the E2 division and mounted on the all new WR450F. Green signaled his intentions over the weekend and showed plenty of raw speed taking seven special test wins out of the 14 contested.

Unfortunately, a mistake on each day cost Green any chance of winning either day but lessons were learnt and Green is right in contention as the championship moves to rounds three and four next month.

Green leaves Kilkivan sitting in second place outright and leading the E2 (450cc) class.

“I felt pretty good on the bike all weekend but just pushed a bit hard in a couple of tests each day and that cost me,” Green explains. “I just needed to stay calm and get the job done instead of over- riding it and going down.

“The WR450F proved to be awesome over the weekend and the extra step up in power made for a pretty exciting weekend.

“But to be in second place after the weekend and know that my speed and fitness is good and I’m 100% healthy leaves me well placed and looking forward to the next rounds.”

Beau Ralston is also right in the heat of the battle as he posted a very consistent weekend on his WR480F in the E3 category. Ralston logged a fourth outright on day one and then a sixth outright on day 2, to sit in fifth outright. He also is currently running third in the E3 division after the weekend.

Ralston can take confidence from the weekend and feels there is plenty of room for improvement in his riding.

“I was pretty consistent over the weekend, although I certainly felt better on the bike on Saturday and it showed in the results. Sunday wasn’t bad but my riding was just a bit off and with the tests being a little faster due to the rain, I wasn’t quite able to generate the speed I needed.

“Otherwise, the weekend was smooth sailing and the bike is working well. I have a couple of weeks before the next round so with the opening round out of the way, now I can relax and ride properly,” Ralston explains.

Tayla Jones leapt into the deep end as she choose to leave the women’s division after dominating the class in 2015 and jump in with the boys in E1 (250cc). 2016 now sees the E1 class considerably deeper than previous seasons, yet Jones stuck to the task and finished 17th in class and 53rd outright on Saturday while on Sunday, she jumped 10 positions to land in 43rd outright and move to 15th in E1.

“Electing to race the guys is so can I challenge myself to be a better rider and race with more intensity than I would if I was racing the other girls,” Jones said. “The weekend was a big learning curve for me and E1 is so competitive this year.

“I was pretty nervous on Saturday but I was able to relax a bit on Sunday and I rode so much better. The Active8 Yamaha team have been awesome and it’s nice to be able to discuss what’s happening out on the tests with the team so I can continue to improve.

“My YZ250FX ran great all weekend and now I know what to expect, things should be better again at the next round,” Tayla ends.

Ex off-road champion and Active8 Yamaha team manager, AJ Roberts, was happy with his teams’ performance over the weekend and believes there are plenty of positives to take from the opening rounds.

“Both Josh and Beau have positioned themselves well after the opening weekend despite not being at their best. We can work with both of them to clean up any issues over the weekend and keep building momentum as the championship progresses.

Tayla did really well for her first major race in E1. The class is pretty tough this year and the heat was sapping all weekend so for her to place where she did is a good result. I’m sure she wants to do better and will go home and work hard but it was a good start and now with some E1 familiarity, she will be a better rider for it,” AJ signs off.

Rounds three and four of the championship will take place at Portland in NSW on April 9 and 10. For more information on the AORC: www.ma.org.au

For a full list of results: http://www.mylaps.com/en/events/1242136