Ballard’s Yamaha Park and Fly Off-Road Team rider Daniel Milner is looking to capitalise on his hometown advantage when the 2012 Yamaha WR450F Australian Four-Day Enduro (A4DE) fires up this afternoon at Warragul in Victoria.

Today’s action will see the Prologue to decide starting positions for tomorrow’s official opening day, with Lang Lang’s Milner determined to fight for Outright and E1 honours on his YZ250F.

The 20-year-old has had a great season so far, claiming his first E1 title in the 2012 Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) and finishing second Outright.

“It will be a tough event if it rains,” Milner said. “It’s pretty wet now – it’s stopped raining [yesterday] but it has been the last few days down here.

“The sun’s out now, but they’re calling for rain Wednesday and Thursday… then it’s expected to fine up, so hopefully we don’t get too much more – it’s already very slick and the soil is slippery clay.

“There’s also a lot of logs and tree roots in the enduro tests which are tricky when wet. The special tests are looking pretty good. We’ve walked them all now, there’s two grass tracks, three enduro tests and a fire trail test with lots of logs across it.

“My YZ250F is ready to rock and roll – it’s a great bike and the perfect bike to be on in the tight enduro tests. Competition is going to be tough. Toby [Price] is always the man to beat, and Italian rider Alex Salvini is here again, too.

“I wouldn’t mind beating both of them, but we’ll see how it goes. There will also be good competition in my class, with the other Yamaha guys, Jarrod Bewley, who’s moved to the class for the four-day – and Tom McCormack. They’re riding really well and I’m looking forward to racing with them.”

Milner finished third in the E2 ranks during last year’s A4DE.