Dirt Bike Promotions press release:

Ballard’s Wellard Yamaha rider, Jarrod Bewley, took his first 2009 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) win today at round four, held near Blayney (NSW).

Bewley’s victory made him the third rider to take a round win so far this season – teammate Stefan Merriman won rounds one and two and GHR Honda’s AJ Roberts took out round three.

Bewley, 21, from Richmond (Sydney), edged closer to the top spot in the championship point’s battle and is now only three points behind Merriman for the lead.

Robert’s performances this weekend saw him move up into third Outright in the championship and in the Championship E2 class, just seven points behind Merriman.

“I started off a bit slow again today, but I just kept pushing through in the rough and dusty conditions and it paid off,” Bewley said.

“AJ was riding extremely well today and yesterday… and Stefan coming back from injury – he’s still right there in the top three, top four… the point’s have added up and now we’re all within a couple points of each other.

“We are all on the top of our game and it’s kind of anyone’s championship.”

Roberts (from Bribie Island, Queensland) came very close to winning again today and lead until the final lap, where he had a crash and ended up about 1.5-seconds behind Bewley after the five heats.

“I got caught out in the bull dust [in the last lap], I think there might have been a bit of a rock hidden in amongst all the dust,” Roberts said.

“It just kicked me around and high-sided me, I hurt my shoulder, but the bike was still running, so I ran back and picked her up and tried to get on the gas as hard as I could.

“I knew it was close, so I just had to push… it’s been a good weekend for me, it’s been consistent. I won a lot of tests, I’m more than happy to walk away with my head high.”

For full results from today, championship point’s standings, video interviews and pics, please visit www.dirtbikepromotions.com.au

Merriman was also on the charge today and finished third Outright and in Championship E2, 7.8-seconds off Bewley.

Motorex KTM’s Ben Kearney was on fire on his 250cc 4-Stroke machine, blazing into fourth Outright and winning Championship E1.

Teammate, Ben Grabham (from Bathurst) was about six-seconds behind Kearney, coming fifth Outright.

MSC Kawasaki’s young gun, Toby Price, finished sixth Outright today, followed by 250cc-rider, Kirk Hutton, in seventh.

Price’s teammate, Josh Green, came eighth Outright. Husaberg rider, Blake Hore, and Husqvarna’s Chris Hollis rounded out the top-10.

In Championship E3, Motorex KTM rider and Off-Road Team Manager, Brad Williscroft, repeated his round three win.

Top desert racers, Todd and Jacob Smith (from Condobolin), tried their hands at AORC racing this weekend and finished 28th and 29th Outright respectively today.

BMW’s Luke Tomlinson was again the fastest Expert today, winning Expert Outright and E2/3.

Lachlan Stanford finished second in Expert Outright and won Expert E1 ahead of Adam Giles (who came second in Expert E1 and third in Expert Outright).

In Championship Veteran’s, Stuart Bennett (from Orange) extended his championship lead, winning again today ahead of Garry Dukes.

Geoff Ballard came out on top in Championship Masters. Fellow Yamaha racer, Alison Parker, won Championship Women’s ahead of yesterday’s winner, Jemma Wilson.

Clubman Outright was won today by Dylan Rose. Troy Partridge beat Wayne Winston today in Clubman Veteran’s.

Yamaha riders Ben Burrell and Tom McCormack were again on top in Junior Outright, with Burrell posting a few times faster than most of the senior Pro riders and winning by 52-seconds.

The remaining Junior class winners were: Nic Tomlinson (Junior Class 1, Nine to 11-years), Mitch Kellner (Junior Class 2), Liam Clover (Junior 3) and Alex Stephenson (Junior Lites 13 to 14-years).

The 2009 AORC is a 10-round series held over five weekends.

Rounds five and six of the AORC will be held at Murray Bridge (SA) on June 27 and 28. Rounds seven and eight: QLD on August 15 and 16. Rounds nine and 10: Young (NSW) on September 12 and 13.

The championships boasts classes for every level of rider, from Juniors older than 9-years to Clubman, Women, Veterans, Masters, Experts and championship-level racers.

The AORC are fantastic for spectators, with nail-biting action and the chance to get up close and personal with the stars of Australian enduro racing.

To enter or for more information please visit www.dirtbikepromotions.com.au, contact Dirt Bike Promotions on 02 63624437 or 0438721024 or email [email protected].

YAMAHA AORC Round Four Top-10 Outright
1. Jarrod Bewley
2. AJ Roberts
3. Stefan Merriman
4. Ben Kearney
5. Ben Grabham
6. Toby Price
7. Kirk Hutton
8. Josh Green
9. Blake Hore
10. Chris Hollis

YAMAHA AORC Top-10 Outright (after round four)
1. Stefan Merriman 88-points
2. Jarrod Bewley 85
3. AJ Roberts 81
4. Toby Price 70
5. Ben Grabham 68
6. Chris Hollis 63
7. Ben Kearney 55
8. Kirk Hutton 51
9. Josh Green 42
10. Peter Boyle 39