HQVA press release:

Husqvarna’s young factory support racers have exceeded all expectations in this year’s Australian Off Road Championships, populating all the high-profile championship podiums.

Despite their fair share of misfortune and injury, Husqvarna men Lachy Stanford, Glenn Kearney, Lyndon Snodgrass, Brock Grabham and Fraser Higlett belied the team’s modest operating budget by all finishing their respective AORC championships on the podium.

Across the E3, E2, E1 and U19 podiums, Husqvarna was the most successful brand after the dominant KTM squad – a spectacular effort which saw all bar the legendary veteran Kearney eclipse their previous AORC personal bests by significant margins.Showing an instant synergy with his Husqvarna FE 501, Stanford registered his career-highest finish in the AORC outright standings with fourth overall, and second in the E3 category on his way to establishing himself as one of the top contenders.

In seventh outright, 22-year-old Broc Grabham eclipsed team boss Glenn Kearney at the final hurdle but also took third in the E2 category aboard his Husqvarna FE 450.

Kearney’s eighth outright was caused in part by a number of injury-affected rounds, but the Boss still guided his young charges where possible, and finished runner-up in E1 to boot! Lyndon Snodgrass found his feet in no uncertain terms as the back half of the season unfolded, powering his Husqvarna TE 300 to 4 outright podiums from the last six rounds.

The 18-year-old’s stunning pair of second places in diabolical conditions at the weekend’s final two rounds saw the impressive young Victorian steal on to the E3 podium at the last gasp.
Considered one of Australian off road racing’s brightest future prospects, Brisbane’s Fraser Higlett managed third in the Transmoto 19 and Under category after 7,5 results in the mud at Penshurst.

In a consistent season where he gained valuable experience the still-just-16-year-old Husqvarna FE 250 pilot amply and regular illustrated his incredible potential.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Glenn Kearney (FE250): “I got 5,3 in class here after spending most of the weekend in damage control. In the first one on Saturday I hit a big solid rock with my bad ankle and ricocheted into a big round bale with my shoulder, and then got pile-driven into the ground. I can’t take a hit like that with the fused ankle so I was left just trying to survive the weekend. No-one could catch me in E1 anyway and I was too far behind Jack to catch him, so it was okay.It was an awesome new venue, but really wet conditions. Lachy had a really big crash on Saturday afternoon that destroyed his day, but today he worked his way through and got up to speed by the end, saving fourth outright by a single point and getting second E3 class. Snodgrass was the standout of the Husky riders this weekend, with two seconds behind Chucky. He excels when it’s wet and he had a blinder, managing to relegating Beau off the E3 podium too.

Broc Grabham was really impressive in E2; second and third in class over the weekend and 3rd in E2 for the year. Fraser ended up third in the U19s after finishing on equal points with Nick Tomlinson. Fraser had a rough weekend and struggled with the mud. But he seems to pick stuff up quickly – and is younger than both of those guys ahead of him.A huge thank you to Husqvarna and to all the team sponsors, as well as the whole team, which worked well all the way through. With Christian always prepping the bikes 100%, Kevvie and Dave helping and all the supporters in our families everyone puts in their bit and makes it all happen, and we had Husqvarna is on every podium this year which is excellent.”

Broc Grabham (FE450): “Today I crashed quite a bit, mostly only for a couple of seconds so I was up pretty quick. But one time my leg got stuck under the handlebar and I slid all the way to the fence. I couldn’t get it off me so I was sitting there wiggling and then Ty came along and passed me. Finally I got it off but I had lost a lot of time, and I had mud all over my gloves and arse, so I couldn’t hang on much. Today I was a bit cautious, some of the track dried out and had random hard ruts you found occasionally.Not a bad way to finish the year off though, I was still top three in class on both days, and I ended up seventh outright for the series, beating GK off this weekend’s results. I think last year was my best ever result out right with 12th, so it’s great to beat that. I’ve always known that I’ve had the speed, but now I’ve been top 10 in the last six rounds so I’m finally getting the results that I know I can.”

Lyndon Snodgrass (TE300): “Third in the E3 championship. I’m pretty stoked with how the weekend went! It was pretty sweet to be out there swinging off the Husky 300 in the mud – the two-strokes dominating was cool. It’s been really good to turn my year around at the halfway point and end up in third in class, that’s for sure. I was a fair way off the pace initially but I just wanted to get back up there so I could battle with the boys. I’ve been doing a bit of riding with Chucky and chasing him around, so I’ve learned a few things off him that I figure are paying off out on the track.”

Lachy Stanford (FE501): “My weekend wasn’t the best – I couldn’t find a flow on Saturday, and after I started to get better in the last one I had a massive crash. It was really bad; my front wheel went into a hole in about fourth gear and I went over the bars. I hit my head really bad, my nose was bleeding, and it took a while to get up. That set me back to 20th place, so coming into Sunday I was still fourth outright and second in E3, but Beau and Jack weren’t far behind so I had to stay in front. So I had work to do for Round 12 so I wouldn’t go back to sixth. The track was a rough today and I found more of a flow and eventually started to gel. Honestly I felt that I’d found my groove again – after the hand injury, I haven’t felt in good form. But halfway through today it happened and I started doing some really good times. I’m very happy go fast again, coming into the six-day – I was starting to doubt myself!It’s been a good series for me. Riding the 501 all year has been really good, and the support of Glenn and Christian in the Husqvarna Enduro Team has been really good all year. This is my best AORC finish yet so I now have a month before I leave for the ISDE. I’ll get back on the 250F now and start practising the smaller bike – I’m really looking forward to that.”

Fraser Higlett (FE350): “It was pretty crazy here this weekend. I struggled a fair bit, but I got third in the championship, and that was my goal for the year. Everyone else seemed to have a better handle on things here today, but it’s all good experience. I would have preferred it to be dusty and rocky here but it was muddy and slippery instead. This year my consistency was pretty good; I didn’t DNF any rounds, so that made a big difference, and I turned up to all of them and gave it my best. I’m still only 16 so I’ve got a fair bit of time to learn, so it’s good. I’ll just keep chipping away at it.”

For more information on Husqvarna motorcycles visit www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com