AORC Senior Classes Mid Year Review
With half of the 2015 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship completed, we take a look at how the senior classes of the AORC season have unfolded so far.
E3 Class
Reigning AORC champion and current overall championship leader Toby Price rules the roost in the E3 class.
Price has claimed five of the six E3 class wins on offer this year to lead with 147 points, with his only slip up coming in the Round 3 cross country at Hedley. His Motorex KTM Off-Road teammate Daniel Sanders took the class honours that day, and he has since impressed everyone in his first year with a factory ride.
Sanders has finished runner up to Price in every round other than Round 3 to be in second place on 135 points, while Husqvarna Off-Road Team stalwart Glenn Kearney rounds out the E3 class podium at the half way point.
Top 3:
1. Toby Price (Motorex KTM Off-Road Team) – 147
2. Daniel Sanders (Motorex KTM Off-Road Team) – 135
3. Glenn Kearney (Husqvarna Off-Road Team) – 118
E2 Class
Of the three senior classes, the E2 class is the most evenly contested. Active8 Yamaha’s Beau Ralston leads on 126 points courtesy of class wins in Rounds 1 and 3, but closely snapping at his heels are Husqvarna Off-Road Team’s Lachlan Stanford (118) and Motorex KTM Off-Road’s Tye Simmonds (113).
Despite not claiming any class wins at this stage, Stanford has consistently been putting pressure on the leading riders and has quietly accumulated points. Simmonds on the other hand has roared into contention with three class wins on the trot, and may well be leading the class had he not have crashed out in the dying stages of the Round 3 cross country in Hedley.
Top 3:
1. Beau Ralston (Active8 Yamaha) – 126
2. Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna Off-Road Team) – 118
3. Tye Simmonds (Motorex KTM Off-Road Team) – 113
E1 Class
Active8 Yamaha’s Josh Green has swept the E1 class with wins in every round to date, and his impressive start to the year sees him sit in second place in the overall AORC standings behind Toby Price.
The battle for the remaining podium positions appears to be more evenly contested, with only seven points separating privateers Riley Graham and Tom Kite.
Both riders, along with KTM Privateer Nic Tomlinson (94 points), have each had moments near the front of the pack and will be looking to break Green’s unbeaten start in the E1 class at Aratula, Queensland this weekend.
Top 3:
1. Josh Green (Active8 Yamaha) – 150
2. Riley Graham (KTM Privateer) – 121
3. Tom Kite (Honda Privateer) – 114
Transmoto 19 & Under Class
A broken collarbone threatens to derail the AORC season of Bolton KTM’s Tom Mason in the Transmoto 19 & Under Class, despite leading Yamaha Privateer Peter Daniel Allen and Kawasaki Privateer Lyndon Snodgrass at the halfway point of the Championship.
Four class wins on the trot bookended by two runner-up placings in Rounds 1 and 6 have summarised Mason’s campaign thus far, but with the Victorian set to spend some time out of action, both Allen and Snodgrass (each with one class win during the year) will be looking to eat into his 30-point advantage in the overall class standings.
Top 3:
1. Tom Mason (Bolton’s KTM) – 144
2. Peter Daniel Allen (Yamaha Privateer) – 114
3. Lyndon Snodgrass (Kawasaki Privateer) – 103
