Enduro

Newly announced 2005 ISDE team member Blake Hore will make the trip North this weekend (Jun- 3/4) were the Christensens backed Yamaha rider will prepare for his second crack at the famed Finke desert race in the Northern Territory the following weekend.

"After last weekend's Stockman's Enduro, were we slopped around in the mud, the wide open desert will be a dramatic change, but one I am looking forward to" said the 19-year-old.

"Stockman's is always a tough event and I did pretty well with 6th outright, the leaders of the series, Willis and Williscroft, are really on top of it at the moment but I am happy to be hanging in with third outright in the championship. I am still learning every day and these guys have loads of experience so I just soak up as much as I can and try and move forward. With four rounds to go I am pretty confident I can finish in the top three in the championship in my first Pro season."

As part of Husqvarna Australia’s commitment to ensuring the competitiveness of the Husqvarna brand, a considerable price reduction has been announced for all 2005 TE250, TE450, and TE510 enduro models.

The changes are as follows:

Model - Old Retail - New Retail
TE250 - $11,490 - $10,990
TE450 - $12,290 - $11,590
TE510 - $12,690 - $11,990

All prices are +ORC

“We (Paul Feeney Group) have spent a great deal of time and effort in ensuring the Husqvarna brand is competitive in the price sensitive off-road market. In addition to the price reduction of the TE models, we have also reduced the prices of a considerable range of spare parts across the entire Husqvarna range

Husqvarna Racing’s AJ Roberts continued his blistering form at rounds 3 & 4 of the National Off Road Series held at Gilgandra this weekend, increasing his lead in the inaugural championship.

Riders and spectators arrived to a flat Gilgandra course on Saturday for round 3, a course which soon became the dustiest event to date. With the dust posing an obvious safety risk to riders, organisers were forced to increase the gap between competitors to 1 minute 30 seconds.

Roberts’ start was not ideal, suffering two low side crashes in the first of four tests for the day. Seventh outright after the first test, Roberts pulled it together over the next three tests to finish second for the round, only 10 seconds behind round 3 winner Brad Williscroft.

Husqvarna Racing’s AJ Roberts added another trophy to the cabinet today, winning the fifth round of the NSW Enduro Series held at Holbrook.

Today’s event consisted of six laps of a dry and dusty 22km course, with three ‘tests’ per lap in the hilly and often rocky terrain. When asked about the course, Roberts responded;

“The track is quite dry and dusty, but nothing like the Qld Enduro round last weekend. In fact, the dusty conditions near Kingaroy last weekend prepared me well for today’s race.

Yamaha WR450 mounted Blake Hore has maintained his overall second position in the Yamaha Victorian OffRoad Championships with a 2nd and 4th outright at the two day Erica Enduro over the weekend (Apr-30/May-1).

Winning two special tests out of 5 counted in Saturday's opening round the Christensens Yamaha backed rider was only beaten by NSW Offroad Champion Brad Williscroft and was happy with the second place.

"My results were good on Saturday," said the 19-year-old. "The conditions were not what I am very comfortable in, with the very high speeds and never really got comfortable but my results were good. With clubs finding it harder to get help a lot of these fast open trails are coming into play and I really have to work on improving this area of my riding"

The first round of the SA Dirt Bikes Reliability Trial – the Phillip Hayden Memorial – will be held at Tarlee, north of Adelaide on Saturday 7th May.

The event will be held over three laps in six hours, with competitors facing both competitive off road sections as well as dirt roads.

Riders are started at oneminute intervals, with the first rider away from main control at 1pm.

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With little rain in the past months, the trail is expected to be difficult, with dusty sections providing a challenge for bike reliability and rider preparation.

The Dirty Bits Racing team members have been training hard in the lead up to the event, with a combination of enduros, motorcross and a variety of club based events to ensure bike fitness and setup.

19-year-old Blake Hore made the trip north to Raymond Terrace, just outside Newcastle NSW, over the weekend (Apr 23-24) to compete in the debut of the Yamaha National Offroad Series. Promoters, Dirtbike promotions had done a great job of providing the competitors with a great circuit an a professional looking event.

The Christensens Motorcycles backed rider had a weekend of ups and downs but for the most part the ups far outweighed the downs. Taking his Yamaha WR450F to a 16th in Saturdays opening round and 6th on Sunday's second round, Blake was up beat and pleased with how he performed over the two days.

After the opening rounds of the NSW Enduro Championships held at Mogo near Bateman’s Bay on the NSW South Coast on April 9-10, it’s shaping as a stellar year for the Husqvarna Racing Team and 22-year-old Queenslander AJ Roberts.

AJ Roberts and his Husqvarna WR250 sit on a commanding position to take out both the Sprint and Enduro Series with both titles combining to decide who will be crowned the NSW Off Road Champion at season’s end.

AJ didn’t take any wins in the two-day event although he still leads the NSW Off Road Championship after six rounds, letting his more experienced rivals know that they will have a Husqvarna WR250 right on them for the entire season.

Husqvarna’s AJ Roberts claims his maiden outright win at round one and two of the NSW Enduro series held at Gwandalan Junior Trials Facility on March 5 and 6. 22 year old Roberts who stepped up to the premier E2 class (250cc two-stroke and 450cc fourstoke) for 2005 made the journey south from Queensland to contest the titles. He set the trails alight from the outset over the two day event riding his Husqvarna WR 250 two stoke to not only the outright win but also the Pro E2 class, a feat Husqvarna hasn’t seen since back in 2000.

Fabrizio Meoni was in a serious crash during the 11th stage of the Dakar Rally. Despite immediate medical attention, it was not possible to save Fabrizio Meoni’s life and he died of his injuries at the scene of the accident.

Due to this tragic incident the KTM management explicitly urges all KTM teams and factory riders to break off the Dakar Rally. KTM is however leaving it up to the individual drivers, teams and their sponsors to decide whether or not to continue the Rally.