GREEN RESUMES ASSAULT ON AORC OUTRIGHT

You had to feel for Josh Green back in May at the 2023 Australian 4-Day Enduro (A4DE) in WA. Not only did he suffer the ignominy of running second Outright (to Sherco’s Jonty Reynders) by the smallest margin in the event’s long history, but he also obliterated his knee in the process – an injury that appeared set to derail the ShopYamaha rider’s ambition to finally clinch the much-coveted Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship’s (AORC) Outright crown.

But in mid-July, Green copped a break. When the AORC’s Edenhope round in Victoria was postponed due to wet weather, it bought Green some much-needed recovery time. And with it, his prospects of going on to win his first AORC Outright title took a real shot in the arm!

Heading into this weekend’s resumption of the AORC series in South Oz after a four-month break, Green sits atop the E2 class standings by 13 points and – more importantly in Greeny’s mind – he leads the Outright points table by 18 points. So, on the eve of the race weekend, we gave the 33-year-old off-road warrior a buzz to see where his head was at … and whether his body was back in good enough shape to bring home the No.1 Outright plate he’s been chasing for more than a decade…

TM: I hate to have to ask this question, Greeny, but how many times is it now that you’ve finished second Outright in the AORC in the past dozen-odd years you’ve been at it? I wanna say … five times!?
JG: I can’t actually tell you for sure, Wigan. I think I’ve run second Outright two or three times. I’ve run third Outright two or three times as well.

But you did back up your 2015 E1-class title with an E2 title last year!
I did. And it was my first E2 title win. But you know us riders; our real focus is the Outright.

Back in July, if the initially scheduled Rounds 5 and 6 at Edenhope wasn’t postponed at the eleventh-hour, were you a chance to race?
Well, I was lining up to ride, no matter what. But I sure wouldn’t have been at 100 percent.

Because you’d defied doctors’ orders about the rehab timeframe after the knee operation, right?
Initially, it was told not to get on the bike for 12 weeks after the knee surgery, but I told the docs I needed to be racing again in less than eight weeks. That meant that they needed to go harder with the procedure.

“I was pretty pissed-off about what happened at the 4-Day and how my protest was handled. And that definitely gave me extra motivation to focus on getting the job done with the AORC’s Outright.”

How can you go ‘harder’ with surgery?
More stiches, thicker stitches. Basically, they stab you with a needle really hard to make it bleed more. That makes it more painful, but it also makes it heal quicker, from what I understand. My doc did all he could to get it to heal as quickly as possible, and to be as strong as possible for that late July AORC round I planned to return at. I was back on the bike after just six-and-a-half weeks. I’d ridden the bike for a couple of days before we found out that Edenhope round had been postponed. But as soon as that happened, I was happy to get off the bike for another couple of weeks, go back to my rehab program, and let the knee heal properly. Buying myself that extra time definitely helped me.

You managed to have a shake-down race last weekend at the Appin round of the NSW Enduro Championship. How’d the knee and fitness feel?
Not bad. On Saturday’s Cross-Country, I ran second to Will Dennett in really powdery conditions where you couldn’t see a lot. Will joined our ShopYamaha team this year and is a real talent. He’s still in the EJ [Under 19] class, but he’s running top-five Outright in the AORC! I’m stoked to see him doing so well. Then on Sunday, I won the Sprint. So, all in all, I felt pretty good. It was good to get a race under my belt before the AORC resumed.

“Not going to lie; it does get to me on occasion that I haven’t won the AORC’s Outright title. But at the same time, I’ve been a top-three guy against some of the best off-road riders in the world for more than a decade now.”

Has running second in the 4-Day back in May by less than a second – again, hate to say it, but that was the smallest ‘losing’ margin ever – made the AORC’s Outright title even more significant for you this year? Or is running second Outright several times at the AORC itself motivation enough?
A bit of column A and a bit of column B. I mean, I was pretty pissed-off about what happened at the 4-Day and how my protest was handled. And that definitely gave me extra motivation to focus on the AORC’s Outright and get the job done there this year. But I line up every year with the goal of winning the AORC Outright.

Plus, you’ve been up against some very special riders in your AORC career; running second to the likes of Toby Price, Daniel Milner and Daniel Sanders in the past decade.
Yep, I’ve been up against a generation of riders who’ve gone on to win World Championships, Six-Day Championships and Dakar Rallies. During my career, I’ve been up against the biggest names in the history of off-road racing in Australia. Not going to lie; it does get to me on occasion that I haven’t won the AORC’s Outright title. But at the same time, I’ve been a top-three guy against those guys – some of the best in the world – for more than a decade now. Don’t get me wrong; I’m motivated to win one. I’d love to. It’s been a goal of mine since I was kid. But I’m still racing and still enjoying it and still hooked on the rush of trying to win.

“There’s a bunch of young kids – especially Kyron Bacon and guys like Korey McMahon – who are going realty fast and have big futures ahead of them.”

Last year, the guy who beat you to the Outright title in both the AORC and 4-Day was your young teammate, Kyron Bacon. He’s not the only young punk coming up through the ranks, is he?
Exactly right. There’s a bunch of young kids – especially Kyron and guys like Korey McMahon – who are going realty fast and have big futures ahead of them. In a way, trying to keep on kicking those young guys’ butts motivates me as well [laughs]. Last week at the NSW state round at Appin, I pointed out an old guy to my girlfriend. It was Damian Smith, who was racing in the Over 45 class, and I explained to her that Damo was my main competition when I was young – like, at Kyron’s age, or other young chargers such as Will Dennett and Jett Yarnold. It was cool for both of us to reflect on that generational change. And even though the pressure is on me to finally win the AORC Outright, I also feel it’s off me too because I’m 33 and getting on in my career. Having that experience allows me to enjoy my racing for what it

Click here for the 2023 AORC’s progressive points for all classes. And see below for the 2023 AORC’s Outright Points Table.