Merriman out of A4DE
Broken shoulder the culpritThis year's Hog's Breath Café Australia Four Day Enduro (A4DE) has suffered a huge blow before it's even started, with four-time world champion Stefan Merriman a scratching from the April 16-19 event at Orange (NSW).
Merriman, who's returned to local racing full-time in 2009 after a decade in Europe, broke a bone in his shoulder in a state-based event last weekend, and it won't recover in time before the rigours of the A4DE.
Merriman, who last competed in the A4DE two years ago when he was third overall behind David Knight and Chris Hollis, will now return to national-level competition at the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship at Blayney (NSW) on May 16-17.
Merriman (Ballard Wellard Yamaha) leads the championship after the opening two rounds.
With Merriman a scratching from the A4DE, Husqvarna's Chris Hollis is now the favourite to make it back-to-back outright wins.
Hollis will compete in the 290-450cc four-stroke class, which has attracted a massive 36 entries.
All of last year's top 10 will return in 2009, with the exception of international riders Joel Smets and Antoine Meo.
Hollis' biggest opposition will come from GHR Honda pair AJ Roberts and Peter Boyle, Jarrod Bewley and Kirk Hutton from Ballard Wellard Yamaha, Ben Grabham (Motorex KTM Off Road Team) and MSC Kawasaki collaborators Damian Smith and Toby Price.
BikePoint will run a full preview of the A4DE next week.
To visit the official A4DE website click here.
Tags
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
