2015 AORC: Battle Of The Bushlands – Feature Article

SPORT 2015 AORC

BATTLE OF THE

BUSHLANDS The hotly contested 2015 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship, through the eyes of the team managers whose riders bagged this season’s major titles.

ANDY WIGAN JOHN PEARSON // ANDY WIGAN

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Former E3 class champ, Geoff Braico, ran 5th in E2 and 11th Outright.

BEN GRABHAM KTM ENDURO RACING TEAM

TOBY PRICE (#1) 1 ST E3; 1 ST OUTRIGHT DANIEL SANDERS (#30) 2 ND E3; 4 TH OUTRIGHT TYE SIMMONDS (#42) 4 TH E2; 5 TH OUTRIGHT

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In your first year as manager, the team’s rider line-up expanded to three, and two of them were new signings. In hindsight, was that too big an assignment?

Daniel Sanders had done enough last year to show he has the speed, consistency and desire to deserve a factory seat, whereas Tye Simmonds’ signing was something we didn’t initially plan for. A few years ago when KTM’s motocross and enduro teams would get together for training camps, Tye started showing an interest in off-road racing and it just grew from there. An injection of young blood is often a good thing for a team and I think Toby Price was reinvigorated by his two young teammates. When the boys were testing together, Toby was forced to lay it on the line

more to keep ahead of these two young punks, but I think he enjoyed that added pressure.

After coming back from his neck injury, Toby’s become a much more dedicated rider, whether it’s his training, diet or racing. He’s hungrier than ever to piece together a consistent season, and he’s much more on top of his bike set-up. In the past, he’d jump on anything and go fast – and he can still do that – but he now takes the time to get the bike right; to make the thing easier to ride fast.

There also seemed to be a ‘work hard, play hard’ ethos with the new-look team this season.

Yeah, it’s pretty much like that. I’ve always believed you have to be enjoying what you do to keep doing it well. Sometimes we play a bit too hard (don’t mention the KTM dealer

conference in Fiji!), but the work ethic of the whole team – the riders and mechanics – has been excellent.

Your three riders only covered two classes this season. Does that suggest KTM is now more focused on Outright results than class wins?

It’s always annoyed me that the Australian series is so focused on Outright results as I believe the class winners don’t get enough acknowledgement. But yes, with the spotlight more on the Outright, we let each rider race the machine they were most comfortable aboard. With Daniel joining the team for the first time, it made sense to keep him on the 300cc two-stroke – even if it meant he’d be in the same E3 class as Toby on the 500EXC. Tye rode the 450EXC because, in his limited off37

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road racing experience, that’s all he’d raced.

When you look back at the season, what are the moments that stand out in your mind?

Well, Toby kicked off really solidly, with a 1-1 result in Queensland, and it became apparent pretty early that Chris Hollis, Beau Ralston and Josh Green were likely to be the main contenders. Daniel and Tye were quick, but struggled to break into the top-four to begin with, and recognised immediately they had room for improvement.

But it didn’t get much better for Tye at Rounds 3-4 in Victoria.

No, it didn’t. Tye’s engine got dusted, which was a harsh lesson for all of us. We knew that that Hedley venue was notoriously dusty, but it was Tye’s first cross-country and he literally raced it like a threehour motocross, sitting in everyone’s dust as he charged his way up to third. When his bike started to eat dirt, Tye just turned the throttle harder, whereas you could see the more experienced offroad riders trying to avoid sucking dust. As much as the DNF was disappointing, that race also gave Tye the first sniff of the Outright podium. And it demonstrated that in the third hour of a crosscountry, when we all thought he’d go backwards, he actually kept moving forward!

How about Daniel Sanders’ transition onto the factory team?

To tell you the truth, he was all over the place to begin with because I don’t think he fully trusted in the team’s calls. I made sure we didn’t overload him with new information but, at the same time,

“Toby Price is literally the best in the world when it comes to his ability to adapt to different terrain and machinery, and still look effortless while going so fast.”

Despite a mid-season injury, Tom Mason won the Transmoto 19 & Under class.

Privateer Stefan Granquist put in another solid season to finish 9th Outright.

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we could see some areas – bike set-up, for instance – where he could improve. To his credit, he learned to take advice on board and has grown a lot during the season.

When Hollis was injured at Hedley, Sanders really stepped it up and moved into third Outright in the series, and he stayed there right until the last lap of the last round.

I know he was very disappointed to lose third Outright to Hollis – but I think it’ll make him a stronger rider in the long run.

He should be very happy to finish fourth Outright in his first year in the Pro ranks.

It hasn’t been a bad year, when you look at your desert racing success, too.

It’s been a great year. Toby and Tye went 1-2 on both the Finke and Hattah desert races, and I like our chances at the Tasmanian A4DE in October.

You’ve observed Toby Price as a teammate and rival in years past. What’s it been like playing team manager to the guy?

Toby’s worst Outright result was a fourth this season – when he got stuck in a first-turn cross-country pile-up and had to work his way through the field in the dust. He was smart enough to settle for fourth that day, rather than hold it wedged like Tye did and not finish. I believe that Toby is literally the best in the world when it comes to his ability

to adapt to different terrain and machinery, and still look effortless while going so fast.

He’s now won five from seven AORC Outrights, four Finke and Hattah desert races, and we all saw what he did at his first Dakar Rally. It would have scared me to send him into Dakar before his neck injury because he was just a bit too fearless back then. But now that Toby understands the dangers, he thinks more about his racing. Even coming into the AORC’s final round, people doubted whether he could adapt to the 300cc two-stroke. But he did. He could have done it on a 250EXC-F. He went 2-1 on the 300, which was a solid way to cap off what’s been an incredible period of AORC dominance. Toby enjoyed the 300 that much, he’s thinking about racing it at the 4-Day. What do you see next year bringing?

Both Tye and Daniel are on two-year deals, so our rider line-up is locked in. They’re both really strong prospects, so I’m excited about next season. This year, I knew Toby could win.

So if he didn’t win, I’d feel like I messed up.

With Tye and Daniel, it’s nice to be able to pass on my knowledge of the sport to help them improve, and it’s very gratifying to see them succeed. And with Toby’s departure, it’ll make things even more interesting because, when the top guy goes, riders all tend to see it as their opportunity to step up.

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SPORT 2015 AORC

AJ ROBERTS ACTIVE8 YAMALUBE YAMAHA JOSH GREEN (#99) 1 ST E1; 2 ND OUTRIGHT BEAU RALSTON (#6) 1 ST E2; 6 TH OUTRIGHT With an unchanged rider line-up for 2015, is it fair to say that Active8 hit the ground running faster than other teams?

Yes and no. The big hitters, Toby Price and Chris Hollis, were still on the same teams, though they got new teammates for 2015. We had the same rider line-up, but swapped classes – Beau stayed on the 450, while Josh moved back to the E1 class to race the allnew WR250F. This is the fourth season Josh has been with the team, so we’ve developed a really strong working relationship. It’s the second year with Beau, who’s become a much more composed rider this season and is coming on in leaps and bounds. These two guys have literally raced each other since they were seven or eight years old, so it’s amazing they they’ve ended up on the same race team. They’re two very different personalities, but the competitive dynamic within the team works well. There’s a healthy rivalry but plenty of respect, and I think they really drive each other. It’s an individual sport but they both understand the value of teamwork.

Looking back the season, what stood out for you as the major turning points?

With two Outright podiums and two class wins at the season opener in Queensland, Beau Ralston really came out swinging. For a guy who was relatively new to the sport, he immediately served notice that he was going to be a player. Then at the following Hedley round, Josh came out and won the cross-country Outright. After a pair of fourths at the opener, he turned it around and became the first guy to beat Toby Price. So we got some really good momentum early in the season. KTM’s Daniel Sanders also podiumed at that Hedley cross-country and showed he wanted to be title contender too. So these three young punks all stood up in those first four rounds, while Chris Hollis and Toby Price were both hampered by a few untimely crashes. Then, on that super-sandy track in South Australia, the KTM team – Price, Sanders and Tye Simmonds – kicked us all in the teeth with a 1-2-3 Outright clean sweep. Hollis ran fourth, and

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After an ankle operation, Glenn Kearney ran 8th Outright, behind teammate Lachy Stanford (#46).

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In a near-perfect season, Tayla Jones took her first Women’s class title win.

Chris Hollis was lightning fast, but inconsistent by his standards for 3rd Outright.

Josh and Beau ran fifth and sixth. So we knew we’d have a fight on our hands in the back half of the season. Hollis was the rider who most consistently applied pressure to Price this year – and he did well to claw his way back to third Outright in the series – but he made a lot of mistakes while Price kept his composure. No one doubts Hollis’s ability, but they don’t expect him to rock up and dominate an entire series either. He’s not the greatest cross-country rider, but he’s a brilliant sprint racer. That puts Toby Price’s dominance in perspective. Toby is so versatile and so consistent, and that’s what carried him to his fifth Outright win in seven years. That is an incredible achievement.

And Greeny’s Outright win was particularly special for you two guys, wasn’t it?

Yeah, it was. It was the first time that the all-new WR250F took an Outright win at a national-level, off-road race in the world.

Two seasons prior – at that same Hedley cross-country round – Josh had become 42

the first guy to ever take Yamaha’s new WR450F to a win. So for me and Josh, we were proud to accomplish those two private milestones. It was a really cool thing for us to be able to get those wins for Yamaha too.

Your riders both held red plates for the entire season, but you got a late-series scare with Beau. Tell us about that.

Josh was solid all year, but we actually had two scares with Beau. While running third Outright in the series, Beau dislocated his shoulder at Round 3-4, but still raced another lap to see the day out. That gives you an indication into how determined the guy is. In fact, both Josh and Beau repeatedly proved they’re prepared to put their bodies on the line. Then at Kyogle’s Rounds 9-10, a fuel-pump problem meant Beau DNFed the first sprint lap. It was caused by a bad batch of fuel, but it was ultimately the team’s fault. We had a new tank and pump ready to go for Beau, but he never returned from that first lap. We should have sorted the problem beforehand. I made 43

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the wrong call. In the Outright standings, Beau went from 3 points behind Daniel Sanders in third Outright to 20 points adrift in sixth. In other words, he fell out of contention for an Outright podium. Fortunately, he retained a 14-point lead in the E2 class coming into the final weekend’s racing at Monkerai.

Yamaha is the only manufacturer in the series with two major teams. To what extent does Active8 Yamaha and CDR Yamaha work together?

CDR had some bad luck this year with Tom McCormack’s pre-season injury and Hollis missing two rounds after injuring is elbow in a first-turn pile-up early in the season. That was a pity because Craig Dack’s program exceptional; it’s second to none when it comes to professionalism. But Active8 Yamaha is not there as a back-up team. We won a title last year with McCormack, and we’ve proved we’re legitimate contenders – with CDR and all the other teams – for class and Outright wins. At the end of the day, both Yamaha teams are there to win.

How do you reflect on the series itself this year?

It’s not ideal that our national series still piggybacks on each of the state rounds, so I think it’s important that Motorcycling Australia ensures there’s more consistency for next season. Even though there’s one rulebook, having four states involved can mean it sometimes feels like we’ve got four sets of rules.

That said, the season finished on a really strong note because it was run a people from the Dungog club, who really know what they’re doing. On both days, we got 10 laps of a course that had an incredible variety of terrain and was double-bunted the entire way around. It was FIM-spec quality, and it made for really tight and enjoyable sprint racing.

“Active8 Yamaha is not there as a back-up team. We’ve proved we’re legitimate contenders – against CDR Yamaha and all the other teams – for class and Outright wins.

Both Yamaha teams are there to win.”

LOG ON TO For an interview with Transmoto 19 & Under class winner, Tom Mason; interviews with team managers Craig Dack and Glenn Kearney; and image galleries of the 12-round 2015 season.

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