Force
Accessories Honda Racing Team’s AJ Roberts and Nick Beattie made their
first appearance as teammates last weekend at round one and two of the
2011 Yamaha Australian Off Road Championships (AORC) at Bulahdelah.
Both
riders were primed and ready to make their mark on the championship
right from the first round, however unfortunately in the week leading
up to the event Bribie Island local, AJ Roberts sustained a thumb
injury during training leaving him to head into the opening cross
country round with only a point saving mission on his mind.
The
injury, coupled with the gruelling heat which at times reached the mid
thirties made things tough for AJ but with the need to salvage as many
points as he could, he powered on to finish the day in 20th position overall and 10th in E2.
“The
cross country was a real killer for me that really hurt, that
relentlessness on my hand was something. I’m glad I rode the event as I
came out a point higher in the championship than both Glenn Kearney and
Toby Price and you never know when that one point may come in handy,”
said AJ.
“I don’t like to be another rider “just filling the gap” as
I want to be upfront and I want to be winning. At the end of the day I
had a goal in mind and that was to earn some points and I achieved that
so I feel better than I would of if I hadn’t gone,” he said.
Team mate Nick Beattie entered round one fully fit and primed to have his best season ever.
Things
were going well for Nick early on during the first cross-country. He
was riding his way to the top of the E3 class when an unfortunate brush
with a tree left him in a fair bit of pain which subsequently slowed
him down resulting in a 15th position overall for round 1 and 5th in E3.
“I
felt good heading into the first round, the race was going to plan
until I shoulder charged a tree towards the middle of the race and from
there on it was a matter of holding on until the end of the race. That
was one of the biggest dead arms of my life!” said Nick.
Round
two which was held the following day was the regular sprint format.
The track was a little drier and dustier and the course was run in the
opposite direction to the previous day. Due to the conditions, the
sprint laps were also decreased to only five laps.
Heading into
round 2 AJ was very sore from pushing through round 1 with his thumb
injury, and Nick was nursing some bruising from his run in with the
tree the previous day.
Both riders however managed to push hard and
with no setbacks to mention, AJ managed to claw his way around the
track to finish 7th in the E2 class and Nick successfully finished the E3 class in 4th.
“I
had a much better round on Sunday. It started off tough, however as
the day progressed I got faster, with my best lap coming at the end of
the day, which subsequently helped me in the points chase,” said AJ.
“When
I woke on Sunday morning my shoulder was quite sore, however it didn’t
really affect me during the race. I pushed as hard as I could and am
extremely pleased with where I have finished after round 2,” said Nick.
AJ
has just undergone surgery on his thumb and will be back on the bike as
soon as possible to train with Nick in the lead up to their next AORC
race in Hedley, Vic on the 28/29 May however both will be competing in
the Australian 4 Day enduro to be held in Mackay on 20-23 April.
AORC E2 Championship Points after 2 rounds
1. Chris Hollis – 47
2. Bartosz Oblucki – 40
3. Stefan Granquist – 30
4. Riley Graham – 29
5. Mitch Harper – 29
6. Luke Tomlinson – 26
7. Toby Price - 25
8. AJ Roberts - 25
9. Josh Ballard – 22
10. Glenn Kearney – 20
AORC E3 Championship Points after 2 rounds
1. Jarrod Bewley – 50
2. Mathew Phillips – 44
3. Geoff Braico - 40
4. Nick Beattie – 34
5. Matt Ryan – 33
3/1/2011 12:47pm
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