Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team’s Lachlan Stanford is gutted to fall shy of the E3 title in the 2017 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC), tying on points for the championship with eventual victor Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team).

The winner was determined by the rider who had captured the last round victory between the duo, leaving the New South Welshman in the agonising runner-up position.

Stanford said he was confident going into Sunday’s final round in Omeo, Victoria, however a mistake-riddled day proved to be costly for the Husqvarna rider.

“I’m gutted to miss out on the title for the boys and for Husqvarna,” Stanford expressed. “But it’s been a good year and it’s good to have moved forward.The cross country on Saturday was good – I got my way into second behind Lyndon for a lap or two, then Milner got around both of us and they gapped me that little bit and I couldn’t hang on.

“Today I was confident, because my fastest lap yesterday was faster than Lyndon’s, but in the first sprint I hit a log and crashed, and then in the second I just pushed that little bit too much and had probably the biggest crash of my life.

“I got kicked and went over the bars and went three metres down this embankment and then cartwheeled with the bike. I got stuck down there for a while and lost nearly two minutes, which sucked. We were fighting for that championship, and all I had to do was beat Lyndon and I just made mistakes after mistakes and then that happened.

Stanford is remaining optimistic, taking the positives out of the highly-competitive championship, highlighting his top three Outright – which unofficially scored – position for the year.

“But it’s been a good series,” he continued. “It’s been fun battling with Lyndon. To finish third outright is my best result, it’s just a shame on the championship side.”