Merriman fights for Yamaha AORC title

Merriman was on the pace, winning two of the Titan Enduro’s seven special tests Outright.
 

The 37-year-old from Nelson Bay finished the day in second-place in the Yamaha Championship E2 Class and in the Outright, just seven-seconds off winner, Toby Price.

Round six, which was scheduled for today, was cancelled due to a severe storm being forecast for the area.

“It went not too bad, didn’t quite get the result I wanted,” Merriman said.

“But it was pretty close - neck-and-neck.

“I didn’t have any dramas, I was feeling pretty good, just not quite fast enough.

“I’ll just go home now and re-group and work it all out for the rest of the championship.

“I’m aiming for the class win and the Outright, there’s still time, anything can happen - just keep pushing on.”

 

Fellow Yamaha pilot, Kirk Hutton, also had a good ride, coming second in Championship E3 and sixth Outright (just two-seconds behind fifth place-getter, AJ Roberts).

“The track and tests were tight, single-line, you just had to hop in the rut and go,” Hutton said.

“My big-bore WR450F was working well. I made a few mistakes and will be working on getting more speed together to hopefully land on the top of the podium in the E3 class at the next round.”

Mitchell Bowen was third in E3 aboard his modified YZ250 and eighth Outright.

Yamaha claimed the top podium spot in several of the event’s classes, with Ballard’s Wellard Yamaha’a Jessica Gardiner winning the Championship Women’s Class and coming 57th Outright (from 120 entrants).

Gardiner’s team manager, Geoff Ballard, was also victorious, taking the win in
Championship Master’s.

The next stop for the 2010 Yamaha AORC will be the Gold Rush on July 10th and 11th at Wedderburn (VIC). Then there will be the Barossa Bar Banger on August 7th and 8th at Kapunda (Barossa Valley, SA) and the finale, the Boxing Roo Yamaha AORC, September 4th and 5th at (location TBA).

For full results from yesterday’s AORC go to www.aorcracing.com.au

For more information on Yamaha visit http://www.yamaha-motor.com.au/

 

1.     Toby Price Class: E2

2.     Stefan Merriman E2 YAMAHA

3.     Jarrod Bewley E1

4.     Ben Grabham E3

5.     AJ Roberts E2

6.     Kirk Hutton E3 YAMAHA

7.     Luke Bussa E1

8.     Mitchell Bowen E3 YAMAHA

9.     Damian Smith E1