Dirt Bike Promotions press release:

Hobby’s Yards (near Blayney, NSW) is primed and ready to host Australia’s fastest off-road racers this weekend for rounds three and four of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC).

AORC organisers, Dirt Bike Promotions (DBP), said the property would be a fantastic venue, with lots of land and fresh trails and tracks.

“It’s important that everyone keeps in mind that unlike a lot of national championships, the AORC caters for pretty much any rider, Junior or Senior, male or female, not just the elite,” DBP’s Phil Sargent said.

“This gives all off-road racers as well as trail riders and motocrossers the chance to come enjoy well ran races as well as be involved in the action and get to watch the very best in the sport.

“Hobby’s Yards is going to be a great venue and I encourage any rider keen to come give it a go, entries will be accepted the morning of or you can go to www.dirtbikepromotions.com.au.

“You’ll get lots of riding in… we’ll be running a mass-start, ‘GNCC’-style race again on Saturday as we did at the first round and a sprint-style race on Sunday.

“The riding will be really good as the tracks haven’t been ridden on for several years and we have a lot of land to play with. Also, there will be some fresh tracks on Sunday that won’t be used on Saturday.

“They’ll be some open stuff, some forrest riding and up and down hills, it will be a pretty unique place compared to any of the other rounds.

“The property owners are very much behind it and have been out there for two weeks getting the pit area mowed and set up. There’s also good road access to it with about four major highways running right there… all-in-all we’re really excited about the event.”

AORC organisers, spectators and racers alike are looking forward to the race, which is set to sizzle with four-time World Enduro Champion, Stefan Merriman, planning to be back on the race track following injury.

A broken shoulder sidelined Merriman from last month’s Hog’s Breath Cafe Australian 4-Day Enduro (A4DE) at Orange (NSW).

“It’s going to be a last minute decision whether I ride or not at Blayney,” Merriman said.

“The injury happened just on six weeks ago this week and it was supposed to take that many weeks to heal, so I’m going to try riding and hopefully it will be strong enough to race this weekend.”

Merriman leads the AORC point’s race after the first two rounds at Port Macquarie (NSW) in early March.

The 35-year-old will have a solid battle on his hands to keep the Outright advantage, with several strong competitors nipping at his heels and only a few points separating them.

Teammate Jarrod Bewley is on fire and has the added confidence boost of winning the prestigious A4DE crown last month. Bewley is sitting second in the championship and in Championship E2, 12 points off Merriman.

Also riding well is Motorex KTM’s Ben Grabham (from Bathurst) who put in second and sixth Outright finishes at round one and two and is only 13 points behind Merriman in third Outright for the Championship.

Not to be discounted, last year’s AORC winner, Chris Hollis (Husqvarna) has been finding his feet on the new bike and is 14 points behind Merriman and fourth in the championship.

Kawasaki’s Toby Price is also well and truly in the title hunt, sitting fifth and 15 points off Merriman.

Racing is just as close in Championship E1, with Yamaha rider ‘King’ Kirk Hutton and KTM’s Ben Kearney tied on 47 points for the lead.

Championship Class 3 is currently lead by Geoff Braico (KTM).

For full championship results after rounds one and two and information on rounds three and four this weekend, go to www.dirtbikepromotions.com.au

The 2009 AORC is a 10-round series held over five weekends, with one round on Saturday in a cross-country format (class mass start, championship classes race for two hours flat out) and one round on Sunday in sprint format (several laps of the bush/motocross track racing against the clock).

Rounds three and four will be held at Hobby’s Yards (near Blayney, NSW) on May 16 and 17. Rounds five and six: Murray Bridge (SA) on June 27 and 28. Rounds seven and eight: QLD on August 15 and 16. Rounds nine and 10: Young (NSW) on September 12 and 13.

The championships boasts classes for every level of rider, from Juniors older than 9-years to Clubman, Women, Veterans, Masters, Experts and championship-level racers.

The AORC are fantastic for spectators, with nail-biting action and the chance to get up close and personal with the stars of Australian enduro racing.

Gates at Hobby’s Yards this weekend will open at 8.30am Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $6.00 Adult & $2.00 Child.

To enter or for more information please visit www.dirtbikepromotions.com.au, contact Dirt Bike Promotions on 02 63624437 or 0438721024 or email [email protected].