Phillips completes 2012 with Wildwood Rock Extreme Enduro victory
Yamaha young gun Matt Phillips claimed the top spot in the 2012 Wildwood Rock Extreme Enduro held in Sunbury, Victoria, at the weekend.
Matt Phillips on his way to victory at the Wildwood Rock in Victoria. Image: Robert Bampton.
Yamaha young gun Matt Phillips claimed the top spot in the 2012 Wildwood Rock Extreme Enduro held in Sunbury, Victoria, at the weekend.
Phillips, 19, won the three-hour race by a margin of two minutes and 45 seconds after nine laps of the challenging, 13-kilometer track.
“It was a hard event, that’s for sure,” the Ballard’s Yamaha Park and Fly Off-Road team member said. “It was like an extreme cross-country and the course included little mountains of rock, rocky creeks, cliffs that you had to ride up.
“It was very different to any other track I’ve ridden and very extreme, but thankfully I was well prepared for the race, as I’ve ridden this event twice before and sometimes practice stuff like this at the quarry next to my house.
“It was the third time lucky for me this year – in 2010 I won the race, but due to a time penalty was pushed back to second, then in 2011 I came third. I was stoked to take the win on Sunday. It was also nice to get the $10,000 prize money.”
Phillips said he most enjoyed the challenge of finishing each lap and the opportunity to race against international competition.
“This year it was Alfredo Gomez who came over to race it,” Phillips said. “He’s from Spain and a junior world champion trials rider. He was riding well and me and him swapped positions a few times, but I managed to pull away from him in the last hour or so.
“This was the last race of the season for me – I’m looking forward to doing it again next year and seeing everyone there.”
Spanish Enduro Champion Alfredo Gomez finished second for Husaberg in what was his first event on Australian soil.
The 23-year-old former Junior Trials World Champion completed nine laps of the challenging 13-kilometre course after leading early on, eventually finishing over two minutes from victory following three grueling hours of competition.
“I’m very happy to be here in Australia for the first time,” Gomez said. “In the Prologue this morning I had a little mistake in the water when I crashed, but I picked the bike up to finish second behind [Mitch] Harper.
“In the race, I was able to ride fast, but Phillips rode faster in the fast section of the circuit – he was too fast for me. I made little mistakes, he followed me every time, but then he took the lead and won the race. Thank you to Husaberg Australia for the support at this event.”
The podium was completed by Dylan Rees behind Phillips and Gomez.
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