McCormack Claims E1 Crown In AORC

[totalmotorcycle]

#McCormack Claims E1 Crown In #AORC

Active8 Yamaha's Tom McCormack has added the 2014 E1 (250cc) Australian Off Road Championship (AORC) victory to his resume after winning the final two rounds of the championship held in Heathcote, Victoria, over the weekend.

McCormack entered the final two rounds with the championship lead and a comfortable gap back to his nearest rivals but was determined to make every post a winner and out to stamp his authority on the E1 division in 2014.

Things started off badly for McCormack on Saturday when he fell on the opening lap of the three hour sprint race but he quickly regained his composure and charged back through the field to take round win and in the process lock down the E1 championship with a round to spare.

McCormack again cut lose on Sunday and took the E1 victory making it nine rounds wins out of the 12 rounds and left no doubt that he is the 2014 E1 Australian Off Road Champion. This victory combined with his E1 A4DE win caps off a great year for McCormack and one that he will long remember.

"The past 12 months have been a bit of a dream run for me and I have been able to meet more goals again today," McCormack explains. "This championship means a lot to me as I have put in an enormous amount of work to make it happen as have the people around me.

"The Active8 Yamaha team have been unreal and have been a huge part of my success. AJ Roberts is always there to lend a hand or pass on some advice and the 2014 Yamaha YZ250F is just an amazing bike.

"Thank you to everyone that has helped and supported me this year, Yamaha as our team sponsors as well as the series sponsors and everyone involved in the organisation of the AORC."

Josh Green bought his YZ450F home in second place in the premier E2 (450cc) division after the championship wrapped up. Green came into the final rounds with an ankle injury sustained at the recent A4DE and was obviously below his best but soldiered on all weekend determined to hang onto a podium position in both class and outright honours. Unfortunately, he just slipped off the podium in the outright finish but managed to hold his second place in the E2 class.

"I knew this weekend was going to be tough as my ankle isn't 100% but I tried to do the best I could with what I had. I'm not too disappointed as a felt I did as well as I could over the weekend, although it would have been nice to finish in the top three Outright, as I had been in contention all season.

Stefan Granquist matched the results of Green, also taking second place, but in the E3 (over 450cc) division. Granquist was looking good on Saturday and heading the E3 field before he had a big fall and damaged his bike. Sunday also wasn't kind to Granquist but he was able to maintain his WR in second place for the E3 championship.

Beau Ralston was on fire during Saturday's event barnstorming his way to a second place outright finish, his best result of the season. He backed that up with another solid performance on Sunday and finished an impressive sixth in class, eighth outright in his debut off road season. Ralston more than showed he is a capable performer in the off road game and will only improve as he gains more experience.

Team Manager, AJ Roberts, was happy with his teams' performance through the 2014 AORC.

"Having four riders has been a massive undertaking and throughout the year all of them experienced some highs and lows so it's been a credit to the riders that they have all continued to work hard and take a professional approach to their racing," AJ offers.

"Tom proved that he is the man this year in the E1 class and he basically dominated that class for the majority of the season. He deserved his win and there was no question that he was the best rider this year.

"Josh again worked hard and was close to eye off a championship but untimely injuries slowed him. So many things have to go right in 12rounds of racing and injuries at the wrong time of the year didn't do him any favours but he is a fighter and I can't question his commitment to racing.

"Stefan continues to roll along like a diesel train and had some things gone his way at some of the rounds, he may well have been a lot closer in the points in the final round while Beau has impressed me with the way he has taken to off road and I believe he has found his niche in dirt bike racing.

"I would also like to thank Yamaha, Active8 Refrigeration and our team sponsors for their support and belief this year. To have four riders, all at the highest level, takes a lot and our sponsored delivered all season long," AJ ends.

The Active8 Yamaha team now switch to safari mod and will be the team behind the campaign of Rod Faggotter and Shane Diener at the upcoming Australian Safari to be held in WA, later this month.


AORC - Final Standings
OUTRIGHT
1st Toby Price - 260
2nd Daniel Milner - 218 (CDR Yamaha)
3rd Glenn Kearney - 211
4th Josh Green - 208 (Active8 Yamaha)
5th Chris Hollis - 191 (CDR Yamaha)
6th Daniel Saunders - 165
7th Lachlan Stanford - 162
8th Beau Ralston - 156 (Active8 Yamaha)
9th Tom McCormack - 150 (Active8 Yamaha)
10th Geoff Braico - 131
13th Stefan Granquist - 100 (Active8 Yamaha)

Class Honours
E1 - 250cc
1st Tom McCormack (YZ250F)
2nd Scott Keegan
3rd Peter Boyle

E2 - 450cc
1st Toby Price
2nd Josh Green (YZ450F)
3rd Daniel Milner (YZ450F)
4th Chris Hollis (WR450F)
6th Beau Ralston (YZ450F)

E3 - Over 450cc
1st Glenn Kearney
2nd Stefan Granquist (WR475F)
3rd Jarrod Bewley