HQVA press release:

Husqvarna Australia Off-Road team leader Lachlan Stanford has powered off to a strong start in the Australian Off Road Championship opener at Rawson, leaving the venue in south-eastern Victoria with a share of outright second place, in the nation’s premier off-road championship.

Stanford fired his powerful Husqvarna FE 501 to his highest cross-country result – third outright in Saturday’s XC behind Daniel Milner and Lyndon Snodgrass, and then repeating the dose today as he shared the sprint round podium with Milner and Josh Green.

Today’s performance also moved Stanford into a share of the E3 class lead.

Rawson was a tougher nut to crack for Husqvarna team mate Broc Grabham, who suffered a poor start in the cross country, then struggled to read the soil type (at the pace of an AORC Pro) and couldn’t quite find his groove on his way to fourth in class and 10th outright.
He’d made little headway today, when in the fourth sprint he suffered a minor technical problem which he was able to fix mid-lap. However, it unfortunately cost him time and affected his result at the end of the day, and he dropped outside the top-20 outright.

Brisbane 17-year-old and Husqvarna TE250 rider Fraser Higlett began well in the Transmoto 19 and Under category, with second in class and an impressive 15th outright on the opening day. However, he suffered badly from blisters that made it near impossible for him to hold on as Sunday’s track got progressively rougher.

The laconic Queenslander was forced to resort to Super Glue to close the flaps of skin on his hands in order to finish the day today, and miraculously managed to salvage 20th in class and sixth outright.

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

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team Manager Christian Horwood: “I was very impressed with Lachy’s performance all weekend. He started extremely well in the cross country yesterday. Got to fifth and then worked his way to third, but Broc unfortunately got held up on what was a very difficult track to pass on. The track switched between dry slippery and hard pack/icy and he couldn’t find a rhythm, but we managed to pit them both at the half way point and the crew did a great job allowing Broc to get into the top ten. He showed glimpses of potential today, getting as high as eighth in one of the sprints, but I know the speed is there. He was just riding a bit reserved today, and you have to when you’re not quite feeling it. The team did a fantastic job all weekend, making the changes required to the bikes between rounds, running fuel stops and conveying information to the riders. For a first weekend, with new people, new mechanics, a new rider and even my own role being new this weekend, it went quite well.”

Lachy Stanford (FE501): “It was definitely a good kickoff. I got a PB in the cross country, and for racing in Victoria too, because down here isn’t always nice to me. Saturday was pretty tough; I tried to catch the KTM boys, but I just didn’t have it in me. The sprints today were alright, but I had two crashes and the times were tight that just messed me up. I only missed second by 0.5 of a second from Greeny, so it could’ve easily been better. That’s a little frustrating, but my bike was great for the whole weekend. It was tight and technical so you’d expect a 500 to make it harder, but the FE 501 worked really well. The team was awesome, the fuel stop was so fast I didn’t have time to get a drink, and Amy was great on the pit board as well. It was a good weekend – I really enjoy the team and Broc as a team mate. Everything’s working really good this year.”

Broc Grabham (FE450): “I want to forget this weekend. I struggled off the start in the cross country, and then just getting past people was hard in the conditions. I’d get held up by crashing lappers who’d block the track and then lay there for a bit. Today wasn’t going that great for me either. I was still in the top-ten time-wise, but then I had a technical issue on the third last lap and lost four minutes. The terrain here was so different to anything I’m used to that I just struggled to read the available traction. It sort of threw me out a bit. But I’ll come back faster next time.”

Fraser Higlett (TE250): “Yesterday was pretty good and the TE250 was great, I was up there for most of it, then I dropped back to second and just sat there for the rest of the way. I got 15th outright so I was pretty happy with that, but at the end I was getting pretty bad blisters. Today I started off and it just got worse. I couldn’t hold on. Worst blisters ever. We used Super Glue and tape – which actually worked, but I put a bit too much on apparently, so now I’m too scared to take it off! I’m just going to see what happens in the next couple of days… it’ll fall off eventually I’d say. My goal today was just to finish, and then try and make it up in the next couple of rounds. That’s all I can do.”