Winners are grinners at Mt Misery

It was a hard weekend of racing for all riders in rounds three and four of the 2024 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship presented by MXstore (AORC). While navigating low temperatures and dusty conditions, our riders also had to tackle highly technical tracks for long hours on the bike.

For our Seniors, Round 3 saw them tackle either the WR450F or MXstore track, followed by the WR450F or Offroad Advantage track for Round 4. Coming out victorious in EV was Tony Albert (TJ’s Motorcycle Repairs) for Round 3 and Mathew Fish (KTM) for Round 4. For EM, Evan Blackstock (KTM) and Rowan Pumpa (Kessner Motorcycles, Motorex) claimed Round 3 and Round 4 respectively. In EL, David Fleming (KTM) and Troy Henderson (KTM) claimed Round 3 & 4, respectively.

For our Juniors, they navigated the Offroad Advantage track on Saturday, followed by the MXstore track on Sunday. Coming out on top was Dylan McDonald (McDonald Racing) in J4, Madi Simpson (Honda Ride Red, Fly Racing) in JG, Marcus Nowland (Yamaha Junior Racing) in J3, Mitchell Dolbey (Husqvarna) for Round 3 and Harley Hutton (GYTR Yamaha Junior Racing) for Round 4 in J2, Drake Hutton (Belle Property Samford) for Round 3 and William Rickhuss (The Nicholson Hotel, Bairnsdale Bikes) for Round 4 in J1, and finally Lachlan Devlin (Devlin Electrical) for Round 3 and Elijah Newton (Dubbo City BJ Engineering) in JJ.

To view provisional results for all classes, please click here.

EV

Over on the WR450F track, Albert claimed a comfortable first place finish in EV for Round 3. With a total time of 1:52:41.892, Albert beat Sam Preece (KTM) and Ian Derwent (GASGAS) to the top step. Preece and Derwent took home second and third place, respectively.

For Round 4 though, Fish came out of nowhere to knock Albert off his perch. After five Sprints, Fish clocked off with a total time of 1:20:27.211. He created a strong lead for gold, leaving Albert and Derwent in second and third place.

EM

Saturday was Blackstock’s day for celebration! With just over four-seconds separating him from second place, it was a hard-fought battle met with sweet reward. Blackstock clocked off Round 3 at the MXstore track with a total time of 43:42.189. Pumpa was hot on Blackstock’s heels all day but conceded for second, with a total time of 43:46.617. Last but certainly not least was Jason Salopayers (Boltons,) in third place.

After Sunday’s racing, Pumpa jumped up into first ahead of Blackstock by a devastating near three-second lead! Pumpa clocked off five Sprints across the Offroad Advantage track with a total time of 53:15.952c, followed by Blackstock in second place with a total time of 53:18.155.

Rounding out the Sunday podium in EM was Miller Hinds (Honda).

EL

Round 3 treated Fleming very nicely, as he came away with the EL win! With a total time of 45:21.488, Fleming beat Henderson to the gold by nearly 30-seconds. In third place was Andrew Bespalov (ARB Design, KTM), with a total time of 45:51.018.

After Round 4 though, Henderson knocked Fleming off the top step by the skin of his teeth! With a lead of nearly 15-seconds, Henderson claimed gold, leaving silver for Fleming. Mathew Evans (MJ Evans Constructions, KTM) claimed the third and final podium position.

J4

It was double the glory for McDonald here at Mount Misery, as he comes away with two first place finishes! It wasn’t an easy win though, as McDonald fought to protect his top spot from Bradley Rayner (KTM Newcastle) and Ollie Gear (Limestone Coast Motorcycles, Yamaha Australia). For Round 3, McDonald managed a lead of nearly 40-seconds, followed by a lead of just over 2-seconds for Round 4.

Rayner and Gear tangoed with one another all weekend for silver. After Round 3, Rayner claimed second leaving Gear in third. After Round 4 though the positions flipped, with Gear in second and Rayner in third.

JG

It’s Simpson’s world, we’re just living in it! Claiming two more consecutive JG class wins, Simpson is looking very comfortable on the top step as we head into Rounds 5 & 6 next month.

Following behind Simpson in second place all weekend was Jade Chellas (Northbound Driver Training, KTM) . She comfortably protected the silver standing from Yasmin Hijazi (Hard Enduro Australia , Beta) on Saturday and Sinead Maher (Simford Group Motorsport) on Sunday.

J3

Once again, Nowland has claimed double the glory and double the joy! Your first-place holder in J3 for Rounds 3 & 4, Nowland beat Harry Gilbertson (Fox Australia, KTM) on Saturday by over one-minute, leaving Nate Munro (Kawasaki) to claim third.

On Sunday, Wil Summers (Yamaha) appeared out of nowhere to claim silver, leaving Gilbertson to accept third.

J2

You might not have expected this weekend’s results, because we certainly didn’t! Over in J2, the current leader board holder, Hutton dropped to second place for Round 3, after Dolbey (Husqvarna) claimed first. It was a battle you had to witness firsthand, as Dolbey and Hutton battled for gold. In the end, the win was clinched by just 0.545 seconds.

The final podium position for Round 3 was claimed by Liam Egan (Rockafellas Racing).

Round 4 saw Hutton return back to first place, ahead of Egan and Dolbey. Egan claimed second, leaving Dolbey in third.

J1

Similar to J2, Hutton looked primed to take out the Round 3 win but alas, there was upset! Rickhuss came through to steal away first place by just shy of 20-seconds, leaving Hutton in second place. Hot on Hutton’s heels was Parker Gibson (GASGAS), who conceded for third.

After Round 4, Hutton clambered back into first, leaving Rickhuss to accept silver. Riding into third was Ryder Lambing (Gas Moto, KTM), who finished just behind Rickhuss by nearly seven seconds.

JJ

Devlin had a fantastic start to the weekend here in Mount Misery. After Round 3, they claimed the top step for JJ by over a one-minute lead! Banjo Sutherland claimed a comfortable second place, ahead of Mason Sawyer (Husqvarna) in third.

After Sunday, Devlin dropped down to second place. He just couldn’t beat the speeds clocked in by Newton, who took out first. Rounding out the podium was Sutherland.

Access provisional results for Rounds 3 & 4 here.

To view the Pro’s race report, please click here.

That’s a wrap here in Mount Misery! Next we head West to Edenhope, Victoria for Rounds 5 & 6 from May 18-19.

Words by Caitlin Hynes. Images by Troy Pears.