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Australian 4 Day Enduro

World-leading motorcycle racers to battle Australia’s best 

Results 

Thousands of spectators today witnessed 23-year-old Chris Hollis beat two of the world's fastest off-road racers and Australia's best to take the outright win at the 2008 Hog's Breath Cafe Australian Four Day Enduro at Warragul, Victoria

Hollis, of the Ballard's Yamaha Off-Road Team, lead the prestigious event from Day 1 and ended up beating Husqvarna Racing's Flying Frenchman Antoine Meo by 32-seconds and Honda's Anthony Roberts by 44-seconds and after four grueling days. “I am really stoked, winning the four day is a huge honor and I am also proud to have won it for Australia - the last two years it has been won by overseas riders,” Hollis said. “I am a little bit disappointed with [today's final motocross], I got stuffed up on the start when [Ben Grabham] took out the gate and it nearly hit me, AJ got the hole shot and I finished a few back, I would have liked to have won it. “But a win..s a win... I have pretty much dominated this season, I won the first two rounds of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championships and now the four day so I am pretty happy with how things are going.” 

Hollis, from Port Macquarie (NSW), is the second Ballard..s rider to win the A4DE in the last four years. Glenn Kearney won the Warragul A4DE in 2004 and not long after landed a lucrative deal to race in America - Kearney, who now rides for BMW, used the A4DE win as a ..selling point.. on his resume. “I am undecided [whether I will go overseas to race]. I love Australia and the competition is so good here... sponsorship is also better since Kearney was racing here,” Hollis said. “I would like to do a few World Enduro Championships, I think I am going to do a few this year. And I would also like to do an [American Grand National Cross Country]. “I have travelled a lot, though, and I know that Australia is the best country in the world... I'm just going to see what happens.”

AJ Roberts showed impressive form in today's final motocross, holding off five-time Motocross World Champion, BMW's Joel Smets, who was pushing hard to get in front. Roberts said the only thing going through his mind before the gate dropped was “don..t crash, don..t crash.” April 17-20 “I wasn’t trying to aim for Hollis, I wasn’t paying too much attention to catching him because for him to lose would have been his mistake because he had about a minute lead going in to it,” Roberts said. “I also had the Meo issue on my mind, I knew he was only a few seconds behind me in the outright standings coming into the final moto. He had raced before me and had got the holeshot and checked out, so I knew I had to do the same. “It was also so good having Smetsy pushing me the whole time, he just pushed and pushed and pushed... I felt good and had gotten pumped up before the race, it was really good.” Roberts said is was “cool racing Smets” (Smets finished the Motorex Championship Class 4 final moto in second and the event in sixth outright) because he “is such a nice guy”. “I know he isn’t near being in prime shape, he retired from full-time racing a few years ago, if he was I know I wouldn’t have had a chance,” Roberts said. “He is the one that should get the most credit for even wanting to race against us.” Both international stars of this year’s event (Smets from Belgium and Meo from France) were already making plans to come back next year. “I would be keen to come back and we are making plans,” 

Smets said. “It is hard for me, though, I am away from home rather often and with two kids it’s not always easy. “BMW is going to have a team for next year’s A4DE... becuase they won’t be racing full-time in Australia next year, the team will probably be made up of European riders, and I would love to be on it.”

Smets thrilled the crowd not only with his amazing display of ability throughout the event and in the final motocross, but with his showmanship, doing standup wheelies and waving to the fans. “I am happiest when there is interaction with the crowd, that is one of the best things about enduro as opposed to other forms of, possibly more popular, motorcycle sport. You can get close to the spectators and really make sure they are having fun,” Smets said. “I don’t think we should sell our souls for the sake of money, I wouldn’t have accepted this job if I didn’t think I would love it.” Smets said events such as the four day were “like heaven” because “you get to do what you love for four whole days”. Meo, who is a serious contender in the World Enduro Championships in Europe, was equally as impressed with the event and said he would be returning next year, but to win. “This year I come for fun, and I had a lot of fun,” Meo said. “Next year, I ride a 250 four stroke or 450 and I win.” Next year’s A4DE will be held at Orange, NSW. For results, photos and more information please visit www.a4de.com 

Interview with Chris Hollis Day 2 - Hot, dry & dusty Day 1 - Thrills & Spills 

Knighter wins 2007 Aussie four-day

Reigning Enduro 3 world champion and currant leader of the ’07 US GNCC series David Knight has claimed overall victory at the ’07 Australian Four day Enduro, staged in Croffs Harbour, NSW. Taking the opportunity to compete in the prestigious event for the first time due to having a two month break in his US racing schedule, Knight continued his recent run of good form to top the event in style. In winning the competition Knight adds a Motorcycling Australia (MA) title to his already claimed FIM and AMA championships.

With little time to prepare for the event, and with his luggage having got lost en route to New South Wales, Knight had no more than 30 minutes to set-up his bike prior to his first enduro event of ’07. Yet despite having flown half way around the world to arrive in Australia just days before the start of the event David performed well during the opening day’s seven special tests and despite a few problems finished within striking distance of Australia’s Stefan Merriman.

On day two Knighter wasted no time at all in turning his slender deficit into a healthy advantage as he finished 19 seconds ahead of his closest rival Merriman. With the event’s special tests becoming rougher Knight upped his pace to move to the top of the overall results.

The third day of competition started with a heavy frost greeting all riders as they wheeled their bikes from the parc ferme. Faced with eight special tests, many having become extremely rough, Knight continued to push hard putting his world championship experience to good use and winning the day by 31 second, again from Stefan Merriman.

With the fourth and final day seeing all competitors enjoying a relatively easy trail ride from the event’s base to the local Coffs Harbour motocross track the weather took an unexpected turn for the worse, which made the final ISDE style motocross races much more slippery and harder than expected.

Despite many of his closest rivals struggling with the wet and slippery conditions Knight maintained his composure again performing well and with out mistakes to claim the win and secure his first ever Australian Four Day Enduro title ahead of Chris Hollis and Stefan Merriman.

David Knight: “With Juha Salminen winning the event last year I knew there would be a lot of people expecting me to match his result this year, which I’m pleased I’ve done. It’s not easy flying half way around the world to race but I’m pleased I did because I’ve really enjoyed the event and got so much support from everyone.

“The first day didn’t go quite as well as I planned but despite a few problems it went ok, especially considering it’s been a while since I’ve raced special tests. I wasn’t too far behind the leaders so I knew I could ride a fair bit faster on the second day.

“I felt good on day two and the tests were a bit rougher, which I think suited me better. Stefan (Merriman) and AJ (Roberts) were still pushing hard and weren’t far behind be so I couldn’t ease off at all.

“Day three went perfectly, and set me up for the event win. There still wasn’t much between us but I knew I was riding well and managed to increase my lead further, ahead of the final day.

“I guess the last day worked out well for me being wet. It was hard though because my bike was set-up for dry conditions. I couldn’t believe how the weather had changed – it was sunny when my bike went into the parc ferme and raining when I took it out. It’s a shame in a way that the event ended the way it did with the bad weather but I guess it made things a little more exciting. The motocross track was hard work because it was extremely slippery. I knew I couldn’t afford any mistakes and luckily I didn’t really make any. There were riders falling everywhere but I managed to keep upright, which got me the win.”

Results – 2007 Australian Four Day Enduro (Overall)

David Knight (Red Bull KTM Off Road Race Team) 5931.03 Charlie Hollis (Yamaha) 5987.38 Stefan Merriman (Aprilia) 6000.28 AJ Roberts (Honda) 6003.06 Glenn Kearney (Suzuki) 6091.93 Kirk Hutton (Yamaha) 6098.73

Merriman rained out at final moto at Australian Four Day Enduro by Lexy Thorogood

Australian Four Day Enduro, Coffs Harbour AUSTRALIA 4-9th July 2007

Merriman's 2007 A4DE campaign got off to a good start on Day 1 as he led the outright classification at the end of the first day ahead of International guest, british David Knight and Local Champion, AJ Roberts. Merriman's bike arrived from Italy on the Monday prior to the race with one day to set it up he realised that his suspension was not suited to the conditions. Set on the softest setting, Merrimans forks did not offer too much give in the first two tests of the day with the cold temperatures, where he lost time to his rivals. On Day Two, he crashed in the first Enduro test, loosing 17 seconds to Knight and a repeat on Day three saw him loose another 15 seconds to the UK Champion. At the end of three days he was 30 seconds adrift of Knight for the outright lead in the A4DE, despite winning back a lot of lost time in the following enduro tests as the temperatures warmed. Sunny weather greeted the riders on Day 4, which looked to be a great day for the final motocross. However by lunchtime dark clouds threatened the sky and rainclouds loomed. The 450cc heat was scheduled for the third last race of the day. the 125cc, 250cc 2 stroke and 250 four stroke heats were raced in the dry, where Hollis, Kearney and Hutton posted the fastest times of the day (up to 50 seconds faster than race leader David Knight). At the commencement of the 450cc heat, the heavens opened up and the riders battled with heavy downpours and a very slippery wet track. AJ Roberts led from the start followed closely by David Knight. Merriman got a bad start and crashed on the first lap was in 15th position before the first lap cold be completed. Back on the gas, Merriman passed several riders in the sloppy conditions but posted a shocking final moto time to drop to third place in the outright standings after the 4 days finished. Second place outright went to Chris Hollis was more than 70 seconds faster than Merriman in the final moto as Merriman struggled in the wet conditions in his 450cc moto, whilst Hollis enjoyed a fast, dry run in the 250cc 4 stroke heat. Despite not capturing the outright win he was hoping for, Merriman proved the new Aprilia 450RXV certainly is the fastest bike in the 450cc class winning ahead of Current Australian Champion, AJ Roberts on a Honda CRF450.

Outright A4DE Coffs Harbour 1. David Knight (KTM 450) 2. Chris Hollis (Yamaha 250 4S) 3. Stefan Merriman (Aprilia 450) 4. AJ Roberts (Honda 450) 5. Glenn Kearney (Suzuki 250 2S)

450cc class 1. Stefan Merriman (Aprilia) 2. AJ Roberts (Honda) 3. Shannon Lewry (Yamaha) 4. Darren Lloyd (Husqvarna) 5. Blake Hore (Yamaha) Merriman will now fly to New York to contest the next Round of World Enduro Championships on the 21st-22nd July.