American Mike Brown continued his flawless run at the third and final round of the 2015 InsureMyRide Enduro-X Nationals held at Calder Park in Victoria on Saturday night, the 14th of March to wrap up the championship title.
In front of a large enthusiastic crowd the Husqvarna Off-Road Racing team racer again showed his dominance to win all three final motos for the night wrapping up the win in the final race of the evening just before the venue was engulfed in rain.
When proceedings kicked off earlier in the afternoon, it was Brown who set the tone for the night from the get-go, winning the opening heat of the night just ahead of Motul / Pirelli Sherco racer Mitch Harper who battled for the heat win all the way to the line with crowd favorite Daniel Sanders rounding out the top three aboard his KTM Australia Off-Road Racing team’s KTM 300 EXC.
Stefan Granquist got the evening off to the perfect start holding off Toby Price for the Heat 2 win Credit: Aaryn Minerds
In the second heat it was Yamaha privateer Stefan Granquist who showed early pace to win ahead of KTM Australia Off-Road Racing’s Toby Price with young gun Tom Mason impressing in third.
With the threat of incoming rain later in the night the racing program was moved forward, though the change in plans had not affect on Brown as he continued his dominating run winning the third heat of the night ahead of CDR Yamaha’s Tom McCormack and KTM Australia Off-Road Racing’s Tye Simmonds, after the duo had a big accidental run in earlier in proceedings with a big first turn crash.
The fourth and final heat race of the night bought the crowd to their feet with Price, Sanders and Harper battling for the race win from the drop of the gate. After a hard fought race it was Price who used his experience to win ahead of team-mate Sanders with Harper rounding out the top three. Finishing in fourth position for the second time for the evening was Active8 Yamaha’s Josh Green, who for the second straight race was forced to battle his way through from the back of the field.
Tom Mason was another rider who showed form early in the day but did not have luck go his way when the finals got under-way – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
With the first 12 riders set for the nights three race final format, the gates were dropped for the Last Chance Qualifier. With just four more spots available for the finals it was Tom Mason and Tye Simmonds who jumped to the front early to put themselves in position to progress from the two lap dash, while Penrite Honda’s Peter Boyle and privateer Chris Perry also done enough to move through the nights big races rounding out the top four.
As per the previous two rounds, the top ten shootout was used to finalise gate selections for the field with Price edging out Brown for the first pick after the American had a small crash late in his flying lap.
A few drops of the forecast rain stated to fall from the sky and the wind picked up as the riders prepared their gates for the first back to back to back final for the night. When the gates dropped it was Brown who picked up the only award he had not already earned in Australia this season, claiming the FoxHead.com.au holeshot award.
Brown was able to hold on for a narrow 1.5 second win ahead of Green who found his form for the night when it counted. Price finished a further two seconds back in third with Harper and McCormack rounding out the top five.
Brown cleared out to big seven second win in the second race, while Green and Price went head to head in a thrilling race long battle for second position. After multiple position swaps during the race it was Price who came out on top to finish second, with Green third, McCormack a few second back in fourth and Harper Sanders in fifth.
Brown picked up the Foxhead.com.au holeshot at the final round on his way to another sweep off all three finals – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
The third and final race of the night was once again belonged to Brown as he cruised home to win his eight final race of the nine contested during the championship, giving him a clean sweep of round wins and most importantly the 2015 InsureMyRide Enduro-X Championship for himself and the Husqvarna Australia Off-Road Racing team.
“It is always good to win a championship, especially at my age!” Brown said at the end of the nights proceedings. “I have enjoyed being over here in Australia and getting the experience to carry over to the American series and it has been a great time.
“The track tonight was the most technical we have had over here this year, it was easy to make mistakes and it could catch you out really easily.
“Now it is time to go full force back home in America, I had not a good round but not a bad round at the first round last weekend, so now I have a good weekend and make some points up, get up on the podium and get a win hopefully.”
Crossing the line in second position in the final race was Price, which would be enough for second overall for the round but not enough to secure second in the final championship standings as Green was able to finish third in the final race of the season giving him enough points for third on the night and second overall for the championship.
“I feel good with this result, I had no real expectations coming in, I just wanted to have fun and enjoy it.” Green commented. “The AORC starts next weekend so I did not want to do anything silly tonight.
“That last race I wanted to battle with Toby, but I knew I just had to finish behind him and I was sweet for second place in the championship.
“I am going to carry this momentum and confidence into the first round of the AORC and I am looking forward to that.”
Toby Price was the only rider to steal away a final race win away from Brown during the 2015 championship – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Price who has had a very busy start to the 2015 year was happy with second place on the night and his third place championship result and is now looking forward to getting into the Australian Off-Road Championship that kicks of this coming Saturday and Sunday in Queensland.
“Tonight went a lot better than the first two rounds and I definitely felt a lot better on the bike this round and the body is starting to feel better.” Price commented.
“To finish second in the final round is good, but you are always aiming for that top step, but that Mike Brown guy is a hard guy to beat! He is always up there and is hard to try and stick with. I felt we had good pace with him tonight, but my starts let me down a little bit.
“I am looking forward to going into the first and second rounds of the Off-Road championships this weekend, that is a little more my thing. I like doing this stuff, it is fun and it is great to see all the crowd here and have the chance to let them see what we do.”
Simmonds suffered at least one decent crash at all three rounds but was able to walk away from his first Off-Road Championship in 4th position overall- Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Tye Simmonds in his first season of Off-Road racing was able to hold down fourth position in the Championship with his sixth place finish for the round, while Daniel Sanders, Mitch Harper and Tom McCormack finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively for the season with the three riders separated by just two points at the end of the series.
Stefan Grandquist had a luckless run in the final three races of the year to finish in 8th position ahead of Dylan Rees in 9th and Peter Boyle in 10th.
In the Women’s class it was round one winner, Kirstie McKinnon aboard her Flair Action Sport KTM Freeride who claimed her second round win with a dominating display on the technically demanding track at Calder Park.
Tayla Jones won the Women’s championship with a third place finish at Calder Park – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
However the win was not enough to secure McKinnon the 2015 title, with Yamaha’s Tayla Jones racing to a solid third place finish backing up her win in Sydney and second place finish at the season opener in Brisbane to come out on top as the series champion by a single point.
Jessica Gardiner had a somewhat frustrating night but was able to finish second for the round and hold down third for the year.
Tom Tuckerman claimed the win at the final round in the expert class, but it was Rubin Chadwick who claimed the championship win ahead of Sam Rummery and Chris Thomas. In the Clubman class it was Billy Newton who came out on top for the night while Anthony Solar stood on top of the championship podium with Kirby Crick and James Boyle in second and third respectively.
Fraser Higlett made it a clean sweep of all three rounds of the junior class for the series to win ahead of Luke Strauch and Jack Matthews, with Adrian harry doing like wise in the Vets class earning a maximum 75 points for the championship to win ahead of owen lock and Lee Pearsall.
Mike Brown celebrates his championship win series promoters Dave and Colin Robins – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Pro Round Results:
1. Mike Brown – 75 Pts
2. Toby Price – 64 Pts
3. Josh Green – 62 Pts
4. Tom Mccormack – 46 Pts
5. Mitcham Harper – 45 Pts
6. Tye Simmonds – 43 Pts
7. Dylan Rees – 40 Pts
8. Peter Boyle – 37 Pts
9. Daniel Sanders – 36 Pts
10. Lachlan Stanford – 34 Pts
Pro Class Final Championship Standings:
1. Mike Brown – 222 Pts
2. Josh Green – 180 Pts
3. Toby Price – 173 Pts
4. Tye Simmonds – 141 Pts
5. Daniel Sanders – 133 Pts
6. Mitcham Harper – 132 Pts
7. Tom Mccormack – 131 Pts
8. Stefan Granquist – 119 Pts
9. Dylan Rees – 112 Pts
10. Peter Boyle – 110 Pts
Kirstie McKinnon won her second round for 2015 and finished second in the championship just a single point behind Jones – Credit: Aaryn Minerds
Women Round Results:
1. Kirstie Mckinnon
2. Jessica Gardiner
3. Tayla Jones
4. Bronwyn Aplin
5. Amber Lock
Women’s Final Championship Standings
1. Tayla Jones – 67 Pts
2. Kirstie Mckinnon – 66 Pts
3. Jessica Gardiner – 62 Pts
4. Jemma Wilson – 52 Pts
5. Emelie Karlsson – 51 Pts
Expert Round Results:
1. Tom Tuckerman
2. Sam Rummery
3. Brad Tuckerman
4. Jesse Daley
5. Jayden Grimshaw
Expert Final Championship Standings
1. Ruben Chadwick – 64 Pts
2. Sam Rummery – 58 Pts
3. Chris Thomas – 50 Pts
4. Jayden Grimshaw – 48 Pts
5. Jesse Daley – 40 Pts
Junior Round Results:
1. Fraser Higlett
2. Deon Javni
3. Ben Kearns
4. Luke Strauch
5. Harry Nadenbousch
Junior Final Championship Standings
1. Fraser Higlett – 75 Pts
2. Luke Strauch – 60 Pts
3. Jack Matthews – 55 Pts
4. Deon Javni – 53 Pts
5. Jack Williams – 36 Pts
6. Ben Kearns – 20 Pts
Clubman Round Results:
1. Billy Newton
2. James Boyle
3. Anthony Solar
4. Simon Cormack
5. Trent Tucci
Clubman Final Championship Standings
1. Anthony Solar – 65 Pts
2. Kirby Crick – 54 Pts
3. James Boyle – 47 Pts
4. Billy Newton – 38 Pts
5. David Hogan – 36 Pts
Vets Round Results:
1. Adrian Harry
2. Don Owen
3. Owen Lock
4. Miller Hinds
5. Lee Pearsall
Vets Final Championship Standings
1. Adrian Harry – 75 Pts
2. Owen Lock – 56 Pts
3. Lee Pearsall – 47 Pts
4. Damian Smith – 42 Pts
5. Mark Spencer – 39 Pts
For Full Results CLICK HERE
Article By: Aaryn Minerds
