Australia’s fastest off-road dirt bike racers will descend on Buckenboura near Moruya in New South Wales this weekend for rounds five and six of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC).

Several riders from the NSW South Coast will be competing for class national titles in the series and will be continuing their bid with a home state advantage next weekend.

Motorex KTM’s Toby Price leads the championship after taking the Outright and Yamaha E2 Class wins at rounds one and two. The defending champion leads the field ahead of Jarrod Bewley and Ben Grabham, eager to continue his current run of good form.

“I’m on a great ride at the moment with KTM, and for my racing I’m just sticking to my usual game plan of going out and having fun,” Price commented. “When you enjoy what you’re doing it clears your mind of any pressures to get to the podium, and every time I go out and have fun I get great results.

“I had some good competition at the opening rounds from my KTM team mates Jarrod Bewley and Ben Grabham, so no doubt those boys will be keeping me honest at the next two rounds, but again that’s all part of the fun. Nobody wants it too easy, you always need to have some competition to make you push harder to succeed.”

The series moves straight to Buckenboura after Conondale’s scheduled rounds three and four had to be canceled due to heavy rainfall in Queensland, with this weekend’s event shaping up as one of the most eagerly anticipated of the new-look series in 2010.

The race is being organised by Motorcycling Australia in conjunction with highly experienced event coordinator Lyndon Heffernan.

“The event’s coming together really well. Every weekend for the last month we’ve had a crew out cleaning out trails and we’re having a big working bee this weekend,” Heffernan said. “The trail sections will be a variety of single trail and fire trails. We have three special tests that are good and long, the juniors have their own dedicated test and will ride two of the senior ones as well.

“The terrain here is a variety of loam and rocks. It’s quite shaley and rocky, but has a good mix of granite and a lot of loam. It has been dry here, but rain is predicted for the next four days, so fingers crossed the enduro gods smile upon us like they did at the A4DE.

“It’s exciting to put this race on. I do really enjoy promoting the events, it’s good fun. I’m really glad for the opportunity. It’ll be a fun event for riders, but also will pose a great opportunity for locals to come and watch the riders in action.

“Not only will there be the very best from Australia, who stack up really well when they race on the world stage, but we’ve got some great local talent with Luka Bussa and Jason Cater racing in Pro E1 and Championship Veteran’s respectively.

“To watch you’ll be able to walk to the main test: the Hog’s Breath Cafe Special Test, as well as the Yamaha Special Test (which the juniors will be riding). Up the road a bit will be the Pirelli Special Test, and if you don’t mind getting your feet a bit wet, the GP Industries Special Test will be just across the river.”

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.

Gates at Quart Pot RV Park, 1304 Quart Pot Road, Buckenboura, will open to the public at 9:00am on 29-30 May, and admission is just $5.00 for adults, with children under 14 free.