Hollis trumps rivals in AORC opener
The 2014 Yamaha Australia Off-Road Championship has begun in NSW, and two solid second places has Chris Hollis leading the way after two roundsThe opening two rounds of the 2014 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) in Bulahdelah (NSW) on March 22-23 produced a plethora of tightly contested racing, with Chris Hollis earning the biggest points haul ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Josh Green and Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna).
Hollis (pictured first) finished second in both rounds at Bulahdelah; on Saturday behind KTM’s Toby Price (pictured second) and on day two he was bested by defending champion Daniel Milner (Yamaha).
“The weekend went pretty well for me and it was just the start to the AORC I was looking for,” Hollis said.
“The dust, heat and course made things difficult but we all had to ride it and it was imperative to make smart decisions out there. The team did a great job and the bike was in great shape so we can now look forward to round two.”
In round one, two heats were run on the original 15.2km layout before a boundary issue saw the senior classes switch to round two’s track to complete the third and final lap of the day.
Price made a triumphant return from injury to claim the outright honours, followed by Hollis, Kearney, Green, Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna), Daniel Sanders (KTM), Stefan Granquist (Yamaha) and Peter Boyle (KTM), with Milner languishing outside the top 10.
The individual class honours went to Boyle (E1), Price (E2) and Kearney (E3).
In round two, the drama intensified when Price crashed on lap three, which saw Milner make up a huge amount of time. Price returned to the pits and made a brave decision to race in the final lap of the day, but he was clearly in immense pain – hip, elbow and toe injuries can do that to you -- and retired less than 1km into the lap.
That left a resurgent Milner to complete a routine victory from Hollis, Jarrod Bewley (Husaberg), Green, Beau Ralston (Yamaha), Tom McCormack (Yamaha), Kearney and Stanford.
McCormack also took E1 honours, with Hollis (E2) and Bewley (E3) the other major class winners.
FULL RESULTS ACROSS ALL CLASSES
The next two Yamaha AORC rounds will be held in Queensland over the Easter weekend on April 19-20 at Boyland.
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