Image: Russell Colvin.

CDR Yamaha’s Daniel Milner made a heroic return from injury at the Coonawarra round of the 2014 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship in South Australia, winning rounds seven and eight in convincing fashion.

Milner was all class on the weekend when he guided his YZ450F to two stunning round wins in the outright and E2 class, which has put him right back in championship contention. Milner has now shot up the order into fourth place after his performance.

In both rounds Milner beat KTM Enduro Racing Team rider Toby Price, who walked away from Coonawarra with a good bag of points. He leads the outright championship on 163 points from Husqvarna’s Glenn Kearney on 152, who placed third in both rounds.

“To finish second is pretty good,” said Price. “It’s good points towards the championship. It was a good fight between myself and Daniel all day. For what Daniel has done is unreal. To come back from an injury and be at the front is a hard task. Daniel is the guy to beat at the moment that’s for sure.”

Fourth in both rounds went to Active8 Yamaha Yamalube’s Josh Green who had a solid outing all weekend. Green does drop in the overall standings from second to third, just two points behind Kearney and is three points behind Price in the E2 class.

Fellow CDR Yamaha rider Chris Hollis walked with a sixth and fifth place, which sees him slipping back to fifth place in the overall standings just one point behind Milner.

Young Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team) sits in sixth place in the outright championship after he scored a 11-7 result, just ahead of Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders by claiming yet another round victory in the Under 19s, beating Broc Grabham and Tom Mason on both days.

JBR Husaberg’s Jarrod Bewley nailed down two eighth place finishes overall and was second to Kearney in the E3 class on both days, while Swedish rider Stefan Granquist, fresh from his stint in the EWC in his home land finished third in both rounds in the E3 class and was 12th and 11th respectfully. Granquist’s teammate Mike McCormack lies in ninth place overall after the weekend when he brought home a 9-6 result and made the E1 class his own.

In the Women’s class the victory went to Jess Gardiner (Ballard’s Motorex Off-Road Team Sherco) in round seven which was her sixth round win for 2014 ahead of Tayla Jones. Jones reversed the order in round eight when she put a stop to Gardiner’s winning streak by claiming her second win for the season. Third in both rounds went to Emelie Karlsson with Sophie Coldiutt and Bronwyn Aplin rounding out the top five in both rounds.

Other class winners included Damian Smith taking out the Vets class as did Trent Lean in the Masters class. Lyndon Snodgrass took the honours in the J4 class in round seven ahead of Wil Ruprecht. Round eight was turned around with Ruprecht taking the win with Seth Muller taking third. Ben Kearns showed everyone who was the boss in the J3 class. Mitchell Brierley won the J2 in round seven with William Price taking out round eight.

Rounds nine and 10 will take place at Kyogle in new South Wales on 19-20 July.

2014 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship
Rounds seven and eight – Coonawarra, SA

Round seven outright results:
1. Daniel Milner (E2)
2. Toby Price (E2)
3. Glenn Kearney (E3)
4. Josh Green (E2)
5. Geoff Braico (E2)
6. Chris Hollis (E2)
7. Daniel Sanders (19U)
8. Jarrod Bewley (E3)
9. Tom McCormack (E1)
10. Beau Ralston (E2)

Round eight outright results:
1. Daniel Milner (E2)
2. Toby Price (E2)
3. Glenn Kearney (E3)
4. Josh Green (E2)
5. Chris Hollis (E2)
6. Tom McCormack (E1)
7. Lachlan Stanford (E2)
8. Jarrod Bewley (E3)
9. Geoff Braico (E2)
10. Daniel Sanders (19U)

Outright championship standings:
1. Toby Price 163 (E2)
2. Glenn Kearney 152 (E3)
3. Josh Green 150 (E2)
4. Daniel Milner 133 (E2)
5. Chris Hollis 132 (E2)
6. Lachlan Stanford 110 (E2)
7. Daniel Sanders 108 (19U)
8. Jarrod Bewley 101 (E3)
9. Tom McCormack 98 (E1)
10. Geoff Braico 88 (E2)

Click here for detailed results