Price and Hollis take the AORC honours

KTM duo Toby Price and Chris Hollis have produced winning form in the opening two rounds of the 2012 Australian off-Road Championship in Dungog (NSW) on March 10-11.

Price, the 2010 champion, won the opening round on Saturday ahead of Stefan Merriman and Daniel Milner (both Yamaha), while defending champion Hollis – whose promising day one form was eventually sabotaged by a derailed chain – rebounded superbly to win the outright honours in round two ahead of Price and Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna).

Price leads the 12-round championship, courtesy of his 1-2 results.

“It’s started off great this year and the KTM 500 EXC was working really well for me,” Price said. “Saturday went to plan before Sunday was a little bit up and down, but consistent results will be important this year and I managed that. I need to make sure I’m on the podium all the time and look at the big picture, which is the championship.”

Price also claimed the E3 honours on both days, as did Daniel Milner (Yamaha) in E1. Hollis’ luckless finish to day one saw Matt Phillis (Yamaha) take maximum advantage in E2, before he returned to the front on day two.

“Sunday is the first time I’ve actually won a round since 2008, so that was pretty cool after the disappointment on Saturday,” Hollis said. “I love the 350 EXC-F and I think I showed that within my riding, feeling really comfortable. I’ll just have to go to each round and try my best from here in the championship, because I’m definitely up for the challenge – we’ll see how I go!”

The next chapter of the championship will be played out in Wonthaggi (Vic) on March 31-April 1.