KTM’s Toby Price and Chris Hollis share victory as the opening two rounds of the 2012 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship gets underway in Dungog, New South Wales.
For Price, the 2010 series champion, Dungog marked an almost perfect start to his season as he claimed the outright victory at round one and then backed it up with second at round two. Leading the way during the early morning test on day one, defending champion Chris Hollis (Motorex KTM) looked on course to make it a successful start to his season until a derailed chain dropped him out of contention. Taking advantage of Hollis’ misfortune, the Ballard’s Yamaha duo of Stefan Merriman and Daniel Milner claimed second and third respectively.
At round two Hollis restored order as he bounced back to grab a commanding 14-second victory over Price in second. Improving on his round one performance, Husqvarna’s Glenn Kearney finished third.
"It's great to start off the season with a win," confirmed overall winner Toby Price. "Saturday went to plan but Sunday was a little bit up and down. Consistent results will be important this year and I managed that. I need to make sure I'm on the podium all the time and look at the big picture, which is the championship."
By finishing third overall at round one, Milner topped the E1 standings ahead of Josh Green (Yamaha) with Ben Burrell (KTM) in third. Milner once again continued his impressive run of form in Dungog by winning round two. Burrell lifted his game to finish a close second while Luka Bussa (Husqvarna) completed the top three.
Taking advantage of Hollis’ mistakes, Matt Phillips (Yamaha) welcomed an unexpected round one victory in E2. Behind him Glenn Kearney beat Mitchan Harper (Yamaha) for second. At round two, Hollis was once again on form as he put the disappointment of round one behind him to win E2. Finishing less than 17 seconds behind, Kearney secured second place over Phillips.
Along with winning round one outright, Price ensured a successful start to his 2012 season by topping the E3 standings at both rounds. Finishing second overall, Merriman showed that he will be a rider to watch this season. The E3 Class results were a carbon copy of the first round, with first-place finisher Price shadowed over the line by Merriman and Keegan.
With the opening rounds of the 2012 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship completed, the series continues in Wonthaggi, Victoria on March 31/April 1.
