Yamaha men on form as A4DE blasts off

A4DE Day One – Yamaha Report

The opening day of the 2014 Yamaha Australian 4 Day Enduro (A4DE) proved to be a good one for Yamaha riders as the blue crew hold down the top three positions outright and are well placed in the other classes on a dramatic first day.

While showers threatened, conditions were again dry and dusty but the CDR Yamaha dup of Chris Hollis and Daniel Milner picked up exactly where the left off in the Prologue, finishing the opening day in first and second positions respectively.

Just under three seconds separate the pair in a near perfect start to the event for the CDR Yamaha duo. Slotted in behind them is fellow Yamaha rider Josh Strang who is quickly reacclimatizing to the Australian conditions.

Seven Yamaha mounted riders finished inside the top 11 spots after day one and with both girls inside the top four of the Women’s class; it was a great start to the event for Yamaha riders and teams.

There was some controversy regarding several riders getting lost during the day but the final positions can now be found on the mylaps website with all six special test results now available.

E1 – 250cc

Active8 Yamaha’s Tom McCormack holds down second place in the E1 division, some 15 seconds behind the current leader, Peter Boyle. While the day was incident free for McCormack, he wasn’t riding with his usual pace and hopes to pick it up over the next few days and challenge for the class win.

E2 – 450cc

Yamaha dominated the event on Day 1 with Hollis, Milner and Strang filling the top spots and several more Yamaha’s inside the top 10. Josh Green sits in sixth in class on his Active8 Yamaha YZ450F, just ahead of his team mate Beau Ralston.

Both riders will be looking to climb the leader board in the coming days while Hollis, Milner and Strang hope to consolidate their good start to the event.

E3 – Over 450cc

Stefan Granquist has put his WR475F in a good position after day one running second in class, less than a second behind Glenn Kearney, and an impressive ninth outright. Granquist is a fit and experienced competitor and will gain confidence from his good performance today.

Veterans

Kirk Hutton turned back the clock and claimed the day win in the over 35s Veterans class. On his YZ450F, Hutton holds a six second advantage over Damien Smith and will need to continue his day 1 heroics for the remainder of the event.

Women’s

Emilie Karlsson and Jemma Wilson head the Yamaha charge in the Women’s category and sit in third and fourth respectively.

Day two gets underway early on Thursday morning and again it will be Chris Hollis that leads the field away.

Day 1 Results – OUTRIGHT

1st Chris Hollis – 31:37.397

2nd Daniel Milner – 31:40.70

3rd Josh Strang – 31:49.350

4th Toby Price- 31:55.516

5th Lachlan Stanford – 32:21.378

6th Peter Boyle – 32:28.319

7th Josh Green – 32:33.689

8th Glenn Kearney – 32:39.238