Price rolls on in off-road title

Just a day after he broke the shackles with a breakthrough victory in the 2009 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship, 22-year-old Toby Price (MSC Kawasaki) continued where he left off with another decisive victory at round eight in Warwick (Qld) yesterday.

The clean sweep now has the Singleton (NSW) rider 5pts behind Stefan Merriman (Ballard’s Wellard Yamaha) with just two rounds remaining in the championship.

“I’m stoked. It’s been an awesome weekend, the whole team’s put in a good effort and it’s got us up front,” said Price.

“You can’t ask for better than that and we’re all over the moon with it.

“The track today was tight and technical and I really thought the 250s would have had an advantage.

“But I’ve taken to it pretty good and just have to try and stay smooth and consistent for the final two rounds at Young next month.”

Jarrod Bewley (Ballard’s Wellard Yamaha) was second overall in round eight, ahead of his teammate, E1 rider Kirk Hutton. Price and Bewley are both in the E2 class.

Bewley won the fifth and final special test, with Price claiming all the others.

Rounding out the top 10 were Ben Kearney (Motorex KTM), Merriman, Chris Hollis (Husqvarna Racing), Josh Green (MSC Kawasaki), Shannon Lewry (Husaberg), Geoff Braico and Damian Smith (High Roller KTM).

It was another steady performance from Merriman, improving one spot from his sixth place on Saturday, although certainly a long way from his dominating performances at the start of the year.

Merriman is now on 169pts, from Price (164), Bewley (158), Hollis (127) and Kearney (119).

A maximum of 50pts will be available in Young (NSW) on September 12-13, with the battle between Merriman, Price and Bewley set to go down to the wire.

If Bewley wins, he will have taken out Australia’s two biggest titles in 2009 – the A4DE and off-road.

Click on the following link for full full results and standings in the 2009 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship.