Graham Wins 24-Hour Torture Test

In near perfect, yet cold winter conditions, Graham went one step better than his 2017 effort to take victory in 2018. It was a comprehensive victory for Graham who lead the event from start to finish and went on to win by a comfortable margin over his nearest rivals.

Competitors start at 11am from the Kapunda Harness club and return the following day after running through a series of checkpoints throughout the event. In the past, it has proven to be one of the most difficult events as the attrition rate is high with less than 50% of the field finishing during some of the more challenging years. In 2018, 72 bikes made it to the finish line.

For riders, the 24-hour slog is physically taxing as they deal with lack of sleep, the elements as well as racing through the night in dark and isolated areas. For the bikes, its non-stop 24 hours of abuse and only the strong survive and a real testament to the bikes that make it to the finish. In 2018, five of the top 10 bikes across the finish line were Yamaha WR450Fs.

“I was pretty determined to get a win this year after coming so close last year,” begins Graham. “With the conditions as good as they were, it was fun riding and the WR450F was just perfect the whole time. We just bolted on the headlights for the night racing, used a YZ450FX muffler and poured fuel in it all night and it never missed a beat. Things get a bit hairy at night and like everyone getting through to that dawn period was tough as your body just wants to sleep but once the sun is up and daylight is good, it gives you a second wind and your focus is back on getting to the finish. Thank you to everyone at Yamaha for their support at this event and also the organisers as doing a race like this isn’t easy. I love doing it and it’s a cool race, so I will definitely be back to defend the win in 2019,” Graham ends.

Slotting into third place was fellow Yamaha rider, Sean Throup, who has been very successful at this event over the past decade. Throup also experienced a trouble-free run on his WR450F and adds another podium result to resume at the 24-Hour trail.

For more information and full results: https://24hrtrial.com/

2018 24-Hour Results:

1st Riley Graham – Yamaha WR450F
2nd Todd Barry
3rd Sean Throup – Yamaha WR450F
4th Rowan Pumpa
5th Brett Haydon
6th Zack Tremaine
7th Adam Wright – Yamaha WR450F
8th Chris Shields
9th Jamie Banks – Yamaha WR450F
10th Alex Heidenreich – Yamaha WR450F