Yamaha Motor Australia press release:

It was another productive weekend for the Active8 Yamalube Yamaha team as both riders, Josh Green and Beau Ralston, strengthened their positions at the top of their respective classes after rounds seven and eight of the Australian Off Road Championship were ran over the weekend.

Both are also proving to be legitimate contenders for Outright honours for the AORC with Josh Green sitting in second place after eight rounds on his Yamaha WR250F, while Ralston sits in fourth on his YZ450F and with four rounds remaining, there is plenty still to play for.

Josh Green again dominated the E1 class (250cc) winning both rounds over the weekend. Green has gelled exceptionally well with the smaller capacity bike and continues to show that success in the AORC isn’t all about horsepower. He landed on the podium for Outright honours on Saturday with a third place and backed that up with a top five finish on Sunday to cement his place at the top of the E1 leader board and second place Outright behind championship leader, Toby Price.

“The weekend went pretty well and I was consistent across both days,” Green said. “I would like to have posted some better times in some of the special tests later on Sunday but that’s the way it goes sometimes and gives me a few things to get sorted before the next round. “There is a month break before the next round and my goal is to win a round before the season is over so I will be working hard to make that happen,” Green ends.

Beau Ralston’s weekend mirrored that of Green, with him taking 5-3 results to Green’s 3-5 in the Outright results. The two top five showings from Ralston sees him running a very respectable fourth Outright and he continues to lead the ultra-competitive E2 class (450cc) with a handy 19 point gap back to his nearest rival.

“Each round I try to race as fast as I can, yet as consistently as I can because I think that is really important in a 12 round championship. This was the one and only Enduro format race and with so many special tests over the weekend, it is easy to over-ride, fall and potentially hurt yourself so it was good to get through unscathed and keep my momentum going in the championship,” Ralston ends.

Kyogle in Northern New South Wales hosts rounds nine and ten of the AORC on July 24 -25 where the Active8 Yamaha team will be hoping to nail down more important championship points and get closer to that elusive championship win from both riders.

“It was a solid weekend all round,” states team owner, AJ Roberts. “Both guys rode well all weekend and it was pretty smooth sailing which is always good. The riders are happy with the bikes and we will keep working hard all the way until the final test to get the best results possible for our team sponsors.”

For more information on the AORC, www.ma.org.au and for a full list of results, www.mylaps.com.