In-form Yamaha Australian Off Road Championship contender Matt Phillips admits he’ll need a rider to step up and challenge Ballard’s Yamaha teammate Chris Hollis if he’s to stand a chance at claiming the 2011 title.

Phillips has been on a late-season charge, winning four rounds in a row and now sitting just 13 points behind Hollis with two rounds remaining.

Last weekend at Hastings Valley it was again Phillips who set the pace both Outright and in E3, but he knows the championship buffer that Hollis enjoys will be hard to close at this point.

“If I can put myself in the top spot, and Toby [Price] slots in between, I can win the championship,” he said. “So the plan is to go and win at the last rounds at Salisbury. That’s all I can do.”

Phillips said his results last weekend were satisfying, mostly because they were won on tighter courses.

“The tight, technical stuff is something I’ve always struggled with,” he added. “I was out to prove a point out there today, that I can ride in it, as there were a few people saying that I wouldn’t do well in the tight stuff.

“I hit a few trees, didn’t break my foot, but I hurt it, and I smashed my shoulder. But apart from that it was a pretty clean day.”

The final round of the AORC series will take place at Salisbury in New South Wales on 2-3 October.