Merriman draws first blood in AORC

Yamaha’s Stefan Merriman has won the opening round of the 2011 Yamaha Australian Off Road Championship in Bulahdelah (NSW), ahead of team-mate Chris Hollis and KTM’s Jarrod Bewley.

Merriman snared the hole shot in the mass-start, three-hour cross-country race, and led for most of the distance other than for a short time when he stopped for fuel and defending champion Toby Price made his way to the front.

But Price’s short-term pain morphed into long-term pain, as he then ran out of fuel in what was a disastrous opening to his title defence.

“I’m wrapped with how I finished today,” Merriman said. “It was a hard day, hot conditions, bumpy track.

“The bike handled really well. I’m enjoying riding the YZ250F and looking forward to tomorrow.”

The first 14 riders home completed 10 laps of the cross-country circuit, with Merriman setting the best lap of 16 minutes, 59.018 seconds (16:59.018). Holllis (17:09.058) was the only rider capable of matching Merriman's pacem, and he completed the marathon 19.551 seconds behind the winner.

Then it was daylight back to Bewley, who was only four seconds in front of fourth-placed Ben Grabham (KTM).

Merriman doubled his outright victory with E1 honours ahead of Grabham and Kirk Hutton (Yamaha), and in E2 it was Hollis followed by Polish import Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna) and Geoff Braico (Husaberg).

Hollis was marking his return to local racing after two years based in Europe, while another returnee, Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna), was forced out with mechanical problems.

In E3, Jarrod Bewley (KTM) was first across the line, followed by Yamaha’s Matt Phillips and Husqvarna’s Matt Ryan, both of whom have made the switch from motocross for the 2011 season.

Today’s round two of the championship is a less gruelling sprint format.

Click on the following link for full Australian Off-Road Championship results
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