Price leads after A4DE day one
The defending champion has made a great start to his title defence, although arch-rival Chris Hollis had to drop his guard to make it happenKTM’s Toby Price just managed to sneak in front of Yamaha’s Chris Hollis to take the lead after day one of the 2011 Australian Four-Day Enduro (A4DE) at Koumala and Gum Valley, just south of Mackay (Qld).
Hollis, 26, led from the get-go, but after he lost precious seconds in the fourth and final special test Price made his way to the top.
Price, 22, said he was riding in “survival mode” today.
“I’ve got some pretty big blisters from (the) Hattah (Desert Race) at the moment,” said Price. “I had a crash at Hattah and hurt my ribs a bit there as well... just making sure I get to the fourth day so I can just stay near the front and should be all good and hopefully by then I’ll be all healed up and ready to go.
“A couple of tests I felt a bit slow out there... just have to try and pick the pace up a bit coming into some of the turns .
“But I’m feeling pretty good and the bike’s really good, handling well, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Hollis said his crash in the final test was due to a front end wash-out.
“I lost the front there for a little bit and kissed the ground,” Hollis said. “Picked it up and kept going, but I lost a lot of time.
“But there were only four tests today and me and Toby are really close... tomorrow we’ve got six tests and I’ll try and make it back up then.
“We’ve got one new test tomorrow that we do twice, which is a good grass track.
“So things are looking good. I’m riding well and my bike’s working good, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Hollis won the A4DE in 2008.
Yamaha rider Daniel Milner is third overall, the same position he holds in the E2 class behind Price and Hollis.
Another rider who came to grief in the final test of the day was young Tasmanian, Matt Phillips (Yamaha).
Phillips, 18, crashed and knocked himself out in the last test, but he still leads the big-bore E3 class ahead of KTM’s Jarrod Bewley and Queenslander Nick Beattie (Honda).
Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) leads E1, after coming out on top in three of the four special tests.
Husqvarna’s Alex Salvini sits second in E1 from AJ Roberts (Honda).
To watch a video compilation from the day (including interviews with several top riders), visit www.a4de.com.
A4DE day one outright
1. Toby Price KTM E2
2. Chris Hollis Yamaha E2
3. Daniel Milner Yamaha E2
4. Matt Phillips Yamaha E3
5. Jarrod Bewley KTM E3
6. Josh Green TM E2
7. Stefan Merriman Yamaha E1
8. Alex Salvini Husqvarna E1
9. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna E2
10. Glenn Kearney Husqvarna E2
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