Big field vies for A4DE

A4DE, day 1, April 17: The 2008 Hog’s Breath Café Australian Four Day Enduro kicked off this morning with overcast skies as riders hauled their bikes out of Parc Ferme.
With the skies still overcast, some of the riders will soon be heading back to base for a frantic 15 minutes fixing their bikes before lock down.
Lyndon Heffernan, of Lyndon Heffernan’s Detour, said that the day got off to a smooth start despite the dry conditions.
“It’s all good, it is quite dry and dusty, but so far the timing has been good,” Heffernan said.
“We’ve only had three people DNF (Did Not Finish) this morning, with two seized bikes and another mechanical problem but everyone finished the first trail section and the Pro’s have completed their third special test now.
“Conditions are a little bit dry but still nice and cool, everything is running smoothly at the moment, but some rain would be really nice.
“It’s tough for the riders because the surface is very loose, so what would normally be easy riding has actually become quite tough conditions, and the trails are very rough as well which is making some people loose time already.
“The leaders have probably already done two thirds of their day, they’re doing another lap now and they’ll be heading in for the MOTUL test, which is their final test for the day.”
Currently leading outright after two tests is Chris Hollis (Yamaha) just under two minutes clear of Kirk Hutton (Yamaha) chasing in second place.
The current leaders after two tests are:
Class 1: Mark Goggin (Yamaha)
Class 2: Kirk Hutton (Yamaha)
Class 3: Peter Boyle (Honda)
Class 4: Chris Hollis (Yamaha)
Class 5: Darren Lloyd (Husqvarna)
Veteran all classes: Stuart Bennett (Yamaha)
Masters all powers: Geoff Ballard (Yamaha)
Women’s all powers: Alison Parker (Yamaha)

More at Motorcycling Australia (pictured)