Ballards Yamaha Park and Fly Off-Road Team’s Stefan Merriman took advantage of his all-new 2012 model WR450F at round eight of the Australian Off-Road Championships (AORC), scoring a second place Outright at Broadford in Victoria.

The Nelson Bay rider used a big-bore WR to boost himself back onto the podium, taking his best result so far and his first podium this year.

Merriman took a sixth on the previous day in the three-hour Cross Country, event which served as round seven of the AORC series.

“The Cross Country on Saturday was pretty tough, it was really dusty, but the track was good — it had a big, open grass track that really suited my big-bore WR450F,” Merriman explained.

Merriman admits he liked the shorter sprints and being able to ride harder.

“Today was a bit better, a bit shorter with the sprints. I could ride harder and managed to get second,” said Merriman.

“The bike is going well, I’m really enjoying it. It doesn’t build revs quite as quickly as the four-fifty, which makes it smoother and it seems to be a tiny bit more powerful. We’re all really happy with the WR450F.”

Rounds nine and 10 of the Australian Off-Road Championship will take place on 28-29 July at Conondale, QLD.