Dungog Forest 300 25/26 Feb 2012

[DeanMember]

The first day of the 2012 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) has been run and won in the New South Wales town of Dungog, with Toby Price (Motorex KTM Off-Road) coming out atop the ladder.

Under picture perfect blue skies and overdue summer-style weather, the 2010 Champion made an early mark on the 2012 Series by clinching both Outright and E3 honours in an epic six Test day of Enduro competition

In the Outright stakes, Price trailed behind reigning Champion and Motorex KTM Off-Road teammate Chris Hollis for the first two Tests, before kicking up a gear to claim multiple tests and clean up ahead of Stefan Merriman and Daniel Milner (both of Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road). Despite a solid start to the morning, Hollis had a disappointing finish to the opening round, with a derailed chain pushing him down the ladder in the last Moto.

The first E1 line honours of the Series were taken by Milner, who finished ahead of Josh Green (active8 Yamaha Yamalube) and Ben Burrell (Motorex KTM Off-Road).

Tasmanian live-wire Matt Phillips (Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road) claimed the opening round honours in the E2 Class, coming home ahead of Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna Racing) and Mitcham Harper (Yamaha), while the E3 class belonged to Price, who was followed home on the timesheet by Stefan Merriman (Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road ) and Scott Keegan (Motorex Force Husaberg).

Reigning Masters Champion and Dungog local Trent Lean (Suzuki MX1 Australia) snagged the Masters Class, nudging out Mark Cockerill (Husaberg) and Ian Jenner (Husaberg) , while Damian smith (Husqvarna) claimed the Vets class ahead of Rob Francis and Anthony Smidt (KTM).

2011 Champion Jemma Wilson (Yamaha) set the pace in the Women’s Class, coming home ahead of Jessica Gardiner (Yamaha) and Tanya Hearn (KTM), setting up 2012 as another year of close competition between the leading trio.

The Juniors put in a brilliant opening round performance across two Tests and an afternoon Moto. The J2 Class belonged to Wil Ruprecht (Suzuki MX1 Australia) who finished the day ahead of Dylan Heaton (KTM) and Lyndon Snodgrass (Kawasaki) while J3 was taken out by Nic Tomlison (KTM), shadowed in by Tom Mason (KTM) and Jacob Peacock (Suzuki). Peter-Daniel Allan took the J4 honours, coming home ahead of Matt Prott (Suzuki) and Isaac Richardson (Suzuki).

The action will continue at the Dungog Showground tomorrow, where another six Tests will round out the epic opening weekend of the 2012 Series.

[DeanMember]

The sun has set on the second round of the 2012 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) in Dungog, with Motorex KTM Off-Road’s Chris Hollis going home from the event with clear Outright and E2 honours

The reigning Champion bounced back from a disappointing finish yesterday – where a derailed chain in the final Moto pushed him out of round contention – to finish the six Test Enduro day on top of the ladder, fourteen seconds ahead of teammate and first round winner Toby Price and sixteen seconds ahead of Husqvarna Racing’s Glenn Kearney.

Hollis also cleaned up in the E2 class, pipping Kearney and Matt Phillips (Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road) with a mere sixteen and a half second margin between first and second place.

E1 Class honours were awarded to Daniel Milner (Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road) for the second consecutive round, narrowly nudging out Ben Burrell (Motorex KTM Off-Road) and Luka Bussa (Husqvarna Racing).

The E3 Class results were a carbon copy of the first round, with first-place finisher Price shadowed over the line by Stefan Merriman (Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road) and Scott Keegan (Motorex Force Husaberg).

Suzuki MX1 Australia’s principal Trent Lean took out the Masters Class for the second day in a row, topping the strong field ahead of Robert Day (Yamaha) and Mark Cockerill (Husaberg). Lean was joined on the consecutive victory bandwagon by Damian Smith (Husqvarna), who took another convincing Vet’s Class victory ahead of Adam O’Connor (KTM) and Anthony Smidt (KTM), and by Jemma Wilson (Yamaha) who took a narrow win in the Womens Class ahead of Jess Gardiner (Yamaha) and Tanya Hearn (KTM).

The Juniors finished off a big weekend by navigating their way through a hot and humid morning of Enduro Tests. The J1 Class aw Michael Peacock (Suzuki) storm home to snare first-place honours ahead of Joshua Brierley (Kawasaki) and Zane Temperley (Yamaha). The J2 and J3 results saw Round 1 place winners switch places, with Dylan Heaton (KTM) snaring the J2 win from Lyndon Snodgrass (Kawasaki) and Wil Ruprecht (Suzuki MX1 Australia) and Tom Mason (KTM) claiming the J3 line in front of Nic Tomlison (KTM) and Jacob Peacock (Suzuki). Peter-Daniel Allan (Yamaha) consolidated his first round victory in the J4 with another first place finish, beating out Alex Wilson (Husqvarna) and Isaac Richardson (Suzuki).

The next chapter of the twelve-round Series will be played out in the Victorian town of Wonthaggi on 31 March – 1 April.

Ollie

[DeanMember]

Here is a link to some video footage from Trans moto

http://www.transmoto.com.au/publish/videos/10125913/Exclusive—2012-AORC-Rd1&2,-Dungog

Ollie

[Adrian GaleMember]

Those lads at Transmoto put together a sweet video package. Thanks for the link Ollie.

You must be a master rut rider after riding that track. :blink:

[DeanMember]

GaleyKTM300 wrote:

Those lads at Transmoto put together a sweet video package. Thanks for the link Ollie.

You must be a master rut rider after riding that track. :blink:

Nah most of the ruts were at the special tests, Peacocks Revenge had ruts up to the handlebars in some of the very wet spots :laugh:

Ollie

[Dwayne OMember]

Great vid there from Transmoto

Looks like the trails were awsome & not too wet at all ,,,
I realise the Dungog guys put a huge amount of effort into the planning & re setting the course to avoid some of the wetter areas, So a massive WELL DONEto all concerned

I hope it all goes ahead again next year :whistle: and if so, I will plan to attend the whole weekend & help out where I can. Just the small part that I saw was AWSOME :woohoo:

Cheers Ollie

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