Todd Waters’ debut at the Hattah Desert Race will have to wait after the versatile Husqvarna Racing Team rider was forced to withdraw from this weekend’s event due to quarantine concerns.

The Queenslander travelled directly from Newcastle to Melbourne following Maitland’s ProMX round last weekend and was already en route to Hattah, however the looming reclassification of the South East Queensland area would require travellers to part-take in a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Waters, who’s based on the Gold Coast, travelled to Melbourne when SEQ was classified as an ‘Orange Zone’, which requires travellers to self-isolate before returning a negative Covid-19 test, although that classification was increased to a ‘Red Zone’ on Wednesday, and requires incoming travellers to undergo 14 days of quarantine.

The Husqvarna Racing Team decided early in the week to withdraw Waters considering the potential of going into quarantine, which would heavily interrupt his preparation for the upcoming AORC round scheduled on 17-18 July in Kyogle, New South Wales.

“Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to go due to the Covid-19 restrictions,” Waters declared to MotoOnline.com.au. “I was actually out there – I was about two hours away from Hattah itself and hired a motorhome – and we were almost there on Monday.

“We flew straight from Newcastle, and then I got a call from Kyle [Blunden], our team manager, and they wanted to withdraw me and fly me back to Queensland because of the restrictions – it looked like I would’ve had to go into quarantine in Melbourne.

“We followed all the steps – flew straight to Melbourne, got the camper and did our Covid tests – so we all got tested. The Gold Coast had been put into a red zone, so they were certain I was going to have to quarantine in Melbourne.”

The Husqvarna Racing Team will still be represented by Victorian desert specialist Callum Norton, who recently finished fifth at the Finke Desert Race.