Webmaster posted on August 09, 2010 12:36
Yamaha racer Stefan Merriman didn’t let severe tendonitis keep him from gaining valuable Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) points at the South Australian rounds of the series, held at the weekend.
The 37-year-old was able to score dual second-place finishes, gaining enough points to jump a place in the series point’s race.
Merriman now sits third Outright, just seven-points behind a second-placed, Ben Grabham, with two rounds to go (Merriman would easily be in second if he hadn’t run out of fuel at round seven).
The Ballard’s Wellard Yamaha racer’s results also helped to further solidify his second-place Yamaha Championship E2 Class standing.
“The conditions were great out there, it was a perfect track for the sprint,” Merriman said.
“In the cross-country [on Sunday] it was very difficult to overtake, but for the sprint it was perfect.
“Everything went well for me, no crashes, everything went pretty good.
“The YZ450F was working great, it’s a really good bike... Toby was just too quick for me today.
“He was just really, really on the gas.”
Merriman said he had been able to push through pain caused by tendonitis in his clutch hand, but said the issue had prevented him from pre-race training, making his lead-up preparation less than ideal.
He said he had been seeing a specialist and hoped to have the issue under control before the finale of the 2010 Yamaha AORC - being held September 4th and 5th at Cherrabah Resort, near Warwick (QLD).
Another Yamaha rider nursing injury at the weekend was nine-time Queensland Enduro Champion and big-bore WR450F rider, Kirk Hutton.
Hutton, who hurt his ribs at a Queensland race a few week’s prior, also managed to hold it on - despite the pain - to gain enough points to maintain his fifth Outright and third Championship E3 Class ranking.
Both Merriman and Hutton would be better off in results in they hadn’t missed the points from an entire round (Merriman ran out of fuel while running second Outright in round seven and Hutton missed round two due to the birth of his first child).
Ballard’s Wellard Yamaha’s Ben Burrell sits 10th Outright and fifth in Championship E1. Fellow YZ250F pilot, Tom McCormack, is third in the class and 15th Outright.
The WR250F continued its dominance of the Championship Women’s category at the weekend, with Ballard’s Wellard Yamaha’s Jessica Gardiner, taking back-to-back wins.
Team manager Geoff Ballard rode his WR450F to a commanding victory in Championship Master’s and now leads the class by 38-points.
The final two rounds of the 2010 Yamaha AORC will be held September 4th and 5th at Cherrabah Resort, near Warwick (QLD).
Yamaha AORC round 10
Top-10 Outright
1. Toby Price E2
2. Stefan Merriman E2
3. Jarrod Bewley E1
4. Ben Grabham E3
5. Ben Burrell E1
6. Daniel Milner E2
7. AJ Roberts E2
8. Rory Mead E1
9. Kirk Hutton E3
10. Mitcham Harper
Yamaha AORC Top-10 (after round 10)
1. Toby Price Points: 172
2. Ben Grabham 132
3. Stefan Merriman 125
4. Jarrod Bewley 120
5. Kirk Hutton 78
6. AJ Roberts 77
7. Mitchell Bowen 68
8. Daniel Milner 67
9. Mitcham Harper 66
10 Ben Burrell 57