Daniel Milner has continued his E3 AORC domination rocketing to victory in both round three and four on his KTM500 EXC.
Milner was once again unmatched in class, winning Saturday by over three minutes and Sunday in excess of two minutes ahead of the chasing pack. The defending series champion also topped day two outright aboard his KTM 500 EXC-F.
It was another masterclass of Milner in technical, dry conditions and he now has a 21-point lead in the championship with a perfect score of 100 points following four of 11 rounds.
Original plans to stage a Cross Country round were shelved due to the lack of rain in the region, revised to feature a unique Super Sprint format on Saturday and a more traditional Sprint round on Sunday.
KTM Enduro Racing Team teammate Lyndon Snodgrass carded a consistent score in the E2 ranks riding the KTM 450 EXC-F, claiming second position in both rounds three and four, now tied for second in the point-standings as a result.
Those results have Snodgrass second in the championship tally four rounds into the season, with the next stop of the series due to take place at Dungog, New South Wales, on 28-29 July.
Daniel Milner – KTM 500 EXC-F: “It was really good to win my class on both days and the outright was close as well. It was a bit disappointing to lose by three-tenths on Saturday after a big off early on, in which I lost a lot of time, but it was pretty crazy for it to be that close in the end. I was hungry for today and put together the cleanest run that I could, so I was satisfied with the way it worked out. That was the hardest Sprint round that I’ve done at Hedley and it was super-rough, so that made for hard racing – you really had to choose your lines to find the better places to go. The KTM 500 EXC-F feels unreal and it was definitely awesome this weekend considering the conditions we were riding in. I have a few things to work on now and then we will set our sights on the next round.”
Lyndon Snodgrass – KTM 450 EXC-F: “It was a pretty gnarly weekend in Hedley and the track was brutal, plus the conditions were really dusty as well. I was pretty happy to take second in class and third outright on Saturday, because the KTM 450 EXC-F was unreal in the dusty, sandy conditions and that was a good result for the KTM Enduro Racing Team. We scored second again in the E2 class on Sunday, which was positive and now we have a number of events on between now and the next round of the AORC and we will keep on working to close the gap to the front.”
2018 Australian Off-Road Championship – Hedley, VIC
Round Three Results:
E3
1. Daniel Milner (KTM)
2. Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna)
3. Andrew Wilksch (Sherco)
4. Tom Mason (KTM)
5. Broc Grabham (Gas Gas)
E2
1. Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna)
2. Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM)
3. Joshua Green (Yamaha)
4. Stefan Granquist (Yamaha)
5. Riley Graham (Yamaha)
Round Four Results:
E3
1. Daniel Milner (KTM)
2. Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna)
3. Andrew Wilksch (Sherco)
4. Broc Grabham (Gas Gas)
5. Tom Mason (KTM)
E2
1. Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna)
2. Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM)
3. Joshua Green (Yamaha)
4. Riley Graham (Yamaha)
5. Stefan Granquist (Yamaha)
Championship Standings (After 4 of 11 Rounds):
E3
1. Daniel Milner (KTM) 100
2. Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna) 79
3. Andrew Wilksch (Sherco) 76
4. Broc Grabham (Gas Gas) 72
5. Tom Mason (KTM) 66
E2
1. Daniel Sanders (Husqvarna) 100
2. Joshua Green (Yamaha) 84
3. Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM) 84
4. Stefan Granquist (Yamaha) 70
5. Riley Graham (Yamaha) 65