Despite losing their number one outright title contender to injury, Motorex KTM Off Road Racing will continue its charge for the Australian Off Road Championship this weekend at Hastings Valley.

While Price is out, E3 class leader Jarrod Bewley is also in contention for the Outright title chase, currently third in the standings entering the penultimate weekend of racing.

Bewley, the current E1 class champion from last season now leads the E3 class by 22 points, also sitting third Outright and just 16 points out of that series’ lead.

Bewley is now the team’s lone contender for Outright honours after defending series champion Toby Price was ruled out of contention with injuries sustained in South Australia late last month.

Price underwent a successful surgery this week to correct ‘intersection syndrome’ in his arm, which was what caused him to crash on Sunday in South Australia after it caused severe fatigue in his arm.

In the E1 class, Bathurst’s Ben Grabham will continue his return from injury at Hastings Valley on his 250 EXC-F, looking to chase down Yamaha’s Stefan Merriman in the standings as he sits 17 points in arrears with four rounds remaining.

Team manager Brad Williscroft looks forward to the weekend’s action following a successful couple of days testing with Bewley and Grabham this earlier week.

“We had two days of testing on Monday and Tuesday with Bewley and Grabbo, which went well,” Williscroft said. “Bewley is still in contention for the Outright title and leads the E3 series, so we’ve been putting in a big effort ahead of the final rounds.

“Grabbo’s also slowly improving as he returns from injury, getting better from week to week. We have a good setting for him on the bike, so hopefully he’s able to gain strength and put in a good performance this weekend.”

Both Saturday and Sunday’s proceedings at Hastings Valley will be contested as Sprint formats.