Daniel Milner will spearhead CDR Yamaha’s E1 campaign in the AORC. Image: 404Shots.

Current Australian 4-Day Enduro (A4DE) Outright Champion Daniel Milner is relishing the opportunity to compete for the iconic CDR Yamaha team in 2013.

With the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship commencing this weekend at Bulahdelah in NSW, Milner will spearhead CDR’s introduction to off-road racing alongside world champion teammate Stefan Merriman.

A revelation in 2012, Milner wants to convert his A4DE form into the AORC season this year and is excited to get the ball rolling at rounds one and two.

While he won the E1 category of the AORC series last year, it’s Outright success that Milner’s aiming for in 2013.

“I’m looking forward to it and so is the team,” Milner said. “Coming from MX it has been different for them and a bit of a learning curve, but they’re loving the scene so far and it’s all looking good.

“I’ve really enjoyed being a part of the CDR enterprise, especially for the testing that we’ve done pre-season. Going into last year I didn’t do enough of it – this year we’ve done a lot more and I’m feeling very comfortable on the bike.

“It’s been amazing working with the CDR guys. They are so professional and knowledgeable – with all their experience they can understand what needs to be done to the bike during testing and this has helped immensely.

“We are very lucky to have the best 250F on the market to work with, the YZ250F is unreal this year and hasn’t needed much to get in full race form.”

With a strong field of contenders entered in the E1 ranks this year it will be a tight fight for victory, however Milner’s also looking at it from an Outright perspective.

“It’s going to be a good season in the E1 class,” he continued. “I know [Glenn] Kearney has dropped back, so he’ll be another guy to battle with. You’ve also got [Ben] Burrell in there again and [Tom] McCormack – it’ll be a good year.

“Then in the Outright you’ve got pretty much the same super fast competition – minus Matt Phillips. I’ll be looking to score a podium this weekend so fingers crossed for us tomorrow!”

Milner won the E1 title in 2012 and finished runner-up to Toby Price Outright in the AORC series.