Sherco Australia press release:

Motul Pirelli Sherco Enduro Team’s Justin Carafa showed immense mental toughness to power his way to the Iron Man class victory at the 2015 Golden Beach 6-Hour Cross Country near Sale, Victoria yesterday.

The brutal sand track snakes through scrub, around dams and over dunes and crests and becomes incredibly rough. A capacity field of 250 riders battled in teams of two or three, while only the brave took to the Iron Man class where sole riders race it alone. Incredibly, Carafa was riding injured after dislocating his shoulder only a week earlier.

Carafa charged off the line aboard his Motul Pirelli Sherco 300SE-R two-stroke and quickly assumed the class lead which he held to the end. “I thought this race would suit me,” Carafa said.

“I’ve got a good bike and I’m not a quitter so I knew I could finish. At around half way I started to feel a bit of fatigue. Not many people know I dislocated my shoulder last weekend. But I just worked my way into a rhythm and started ticking laps off and got there in the end.” Carafa completed the event in 6 hours 6 minutes and 43 seconds with 12 laps, a full lap clear of second and third places.

“My bike was so much fun. The suspension was working well and for how rough and technical the track became I couldn’t have asked for a better bike. Towards the end it felt like I was hitting supercross whoops for half an hour at a time. A lot of tree roots started popping up and with the sun glare late in the race you had to keep your wits about you.” Carafa said.

Carafa’s 300SE-R utilised the Sherco 13-litre fuel tank and combined a suitable suspension setting tuned by Chad’s Off-Road Setups. The power and agility of the 300SE-R proved a formidable combination in the deep sand. “Justin’s is a warrior,” said Motul Pirelli Sherco Enduro Team manager Stephen Tuff.

“To punch out laps on such a demanding track the way Justin did is a massive effort. His shoulder was heavily taped but in all honesty we didn’t know how he’d hold up to the brutal conditions. The bike was strong and perfectly setup and he just put his head down and got on with it. It’s a great win for the Team.”

The Motul Pirelli Sherco Enduro Team be back in action August 15 at the AORC finale at Monkerai, NSW. For more information on Sherco Australia, visit www.sherco.com.au or to follow the progress of the new Motul Pirelli Sherco Enduro Team, visit www.facebook.com/shercomotorcyclesaustralia.