Hargy, Stephens, Gear, Roche & McDonald Claim First Place At Golden Beach
The nerves were quickly dashed away in Round 1 of the 2021 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship presented by MXStore. Across a 2-hour Cross Country in Golden Beaches’ sandy and challenging conditions, Lachlan Roche (Simford Group Motorsport), Ollie Gear (Sinclair Electrical), Levi Stephens, Billy Hargy (Husqvarna Junior Racing Team) and Danielle McDonald (Yamaha MXstore Ballards Off-Road Team) came out victorious in J1, J2, J3, J4 and JG respectively.
J1
It was a tense battle in J1 as Harley Hutton (Yamaha Motor Australia) and Roche battled it out for the top podium position. In the end though, it was Roche who came out victorious with over a minute lead over Hutton with a total time of 2:07:08.529.
Rounding out the podium was Lewis Arrowsmith, enjoying a comfortable lead ahead of the competition from Nate Munro, clocking in at 2:21:58.227.
2021 AORC J1 Round 1 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Lachlan Roche 2:07:08.529 (Simford Group Motorsport)
- Harley Hutton 2:08:27.829 (Yamaha Motor Australia)
- Lewis Arrowsmith 2:21:58.227
- Nate Munro 2:31:31.135 (Earthcut Constructions)
- Seth Marsden `1:56:07.243 (+1 lap) (Wodens)
J2
Without a shadow of a doubt, Gear held a strong and impressive lead all throughout today’s Cross Country format. Pushing through the sandy conditions and kicking off as if the past 12-month gap in racing hadn’t happened, Gear finished his six laps with a total time of 2:12:13.319.
Second and third place was won by Max Stevenson and Tate Young.
2021 AORC J2 Round 1 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Ollie Gear 2:12:13.319 (Sinclair Electrical)
- Max Stevenson 2:18:16.189
- Tate Young 1:58:06.048 (+1 lap)
- Will Missen 1:59:55.112 (+1 lap) (Country Motorcycles)
- Ryan Jordan 1:59:56.857 (+1 lap) (North West Motorcycling)
J3
Picking up right where he left off in 2020, Stephens continued his winning streak in J3, clocking in with a total time of 2:08:58.748. Rounding out his podium was Jett Yarnold (Pacific Blue Metal) and Kyle Sandstrom (Triple R), each finishing Round 1 with a time of 2:12:06.648 and 2:18:24.970 respectively.
2021 AORC J3 Round 1 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Levi Stephens 2:08:58.748
- Jett Yarnold 2:12:06.648 (Pacific Blue Metal)
- Kyle Sandstrom 2:18:24.970 (Triple R)
- Jet Brien 2:25:48.725
- Glen Brotherton 2:00:10.987 (+1 lap)
J4
Golden Beach could do nothing to stop Hargy as he continued his Championship campaign that was cut short back in 2020. Finishing Saturday’s racing with a total time of 1:59:13.347, Hargy was well ahead of the pack, which helped with visibility over the 2-hour race.
“Today was a good day! I found the conditions fine but being at the front of the pack helped me in terms of visibility,” explained Hargy.
“It’s been great to get back to racing and pit myself against the competition in my class. The field is strong and it was great to come away today with the class win.”
Rounding out the J4 Round 1 podium was Travis Olander and William Dennett (Yamaha Motor Australia) in second and third place.
2021 AORC J4 Round 1 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Billy Hargy 1:59:13.347 (Husqvarna Junior Racing Team)
- Travis Olander 2:01:38.673
- William Dennett 2:01:44.457 (Yamaha Motor Australia)
- Luke Chellas 2:02:07.927
- Max Phillips 2:04:46.284
JG
Over in JG, McDonald smoked her competition, carrying over her winning streak and clear confidence from earlier rounds in 2020. Pinned into the ruts and tackling the thick, sandy conditions, McDonald finished Round 1 with a total time of 2:16:46.825.
Second and third were claimed by Taylor Thompson (Excite Motorsports) and Ariana Collins (Jeff Collins Plumbing), clocking in after five laps with total times of 1:58:22.549 and 1:58:31.537 respectively.
2021 AORC JG Round 1 Top 5 Provisional Results:
- Danielle McDonald 2:16:46.825 (Yamaha MXstore Ballards Off-Road Team)
- Taylor Thomson 1:58:22.549 (+1 lap) (Excite Motorsports)
- Ariana Collins 1:58:31.527 (+1 lap) (Jeff Collins Plumbing)
- Madi Simpson 2:10:43.512 (+1 lap) (T-DUB/BSMX Racing Team)
- Ella Littlejohn 2:19:44.057 (+1 lap)
AORC returns tomorrow morning for Round 2, with an action-packed Sprint format.
