Green wins Hattah Desert Race

Yamaha’s Josh Green has won the 2013 Hattah Desert Race, held on July 6-7 near Mildura (Vic). He finished over two minutes ahead of Husaberg’s Jarrod Bewley, with Honda’s Peter Boyle third.

> For full results, visit www.orion-timing.com/results.htm

Green kicked off the weekend strongly, taking pole position in the prologue before doing the business in the main event, which consisted of eight, 38km laps of sandy, whooped out terrain -- the ultimate test of fitness, rider skill and bike durability.

Nearly four-and-a-half-hours of racing saw Green take a convincing win aboard his YZ450F. He was involved in a tight four-way battle during the opening two laps but eventually broke clear and stretched his lead to a comfortable gap by the halfway stage.

“The speed on the first two laps was crazy,” Green said. “A few of us were going backwards and forwards and it seemed really difficult to lead. But after a few laps, I seemed to find my flow, got to the front and was able to just ride my own race.

“I had a drama free run the whole race until the final lap when I crested a hill and jumped into a fallen lapped rider. It was a bit scary as I didn’t see him until I was already committed but luckily no damage was done and I was able to pick it up and get to the finish line.

“I’m pretty pumped to win. The Hattah race is such a cool event and the atmosphere is awesome. This is only the second time I have done it but I love racing here and the loop is unreal to ride.”

Tom McCormack (Yamaha) and former winner Ben Grabham (KTM) completed the top five, while other notables to finish included Chris Hollis (KTM) in seventh, Jacob and Todd Smith (both Honda) in 13th and 14th, while former world motocross champion Ben Townley (Honda) finished in 15th.

The off-road fraternity now continues to track west to Hervey (WA) for the 2013 Australian Four Day Enduro (A4DE) from July 17-20.