Meet the Athlete: Lachlan Stanford

As we mentioned a few weeks back when we previewed the upcoming Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) season, only five of last year’s top-10 Outright AORC finishers will line up at the opening round of the 2017 AORC season on April 22-23 in Victoria. Not only that; last year’s top three are all gone (reigning champ, Daniel Sanders, is racing EnduroGP in Europe; runner-up, Tye Simmonds, will be focusing his energy on desert racing; and third Outright, Chris Hollis, has retired). So, last year’s #4 Outright, Husqvarna’s Lachy Stanford is therefore the heir apparent to the AORC Outright crown, right? Well, the humble Standford would never claim that. And he’s smart enough to know that the return of Daniel Milner and Josh Green will not make his life easy this season.
In any case, before the boys engage in AORC battle when the national series kicks off in two weekends’ time, let’s get to know that laconic boy from Byron Bay, Lachlan Stanford, a little better.
Yep, let’s Meet The Athlete…

LACHY STANFORD

AGE: 25
TEAM: Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team
WEIGHT/HEIGHT: 80kg/186cm
SINGLE/STEADY/HITCHED: Engaged
KIDS: Zero
MUSIC: Triple J radio
MY CREW: Tom Jenner, Trent Paola, Robbie Warden, Kirk Gibbs and Dean Ferris

If I didn’t race dirt bikes professionally, I’d probably be…
Investing in, and renovating, houses.

Three things people don’t know about me are…

I didn’t start racing till I was 15.
I am a qualified plumber.
I’m scared of turbulence. And that sucks because I fly a lot.

The best thing about being a Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team athlete is…
Getting given the best bikes on the market to ride every day of the week, and having some of the best team sponsors in the market. It just doesn’t get much better.

My most memorable race was…
The 2015 ISDE in Slovakia, for sure. Team Australia (after all the legal battles that went down) was finally and rightfully awarded the win, and I was part of that history-making Aussie Senior team. Plus, I won the E3 class on Day 1 at that event. That felt pretty cool.

My fiercest rivalry was/is with…
It changes every year. But growing up, it would have had to be Tom McCormack. We have had some great battles in the Queensland state series over the past few years.

If I was a series promoter, the first thing I’d do is…
Try to make the sport bigger … somehow?! Hey, that’s a tough question. Maybe I’d tell them to take Transmoto’s lead because you blokes run awesome events with great sponsors (including Husky!).

A funny story about my mechanic or team manager…
There are a few funny stories about my team manager, Christian Horwood. We did a public speaking seminar the other day, and when it was Christian’s turn he got pretty nervous. I got it on film, so if anyone wants to see it, happy to show you. Christian filmed me flipping my brand new race bike at a photo shot a few days earlier and showed it to heaps of people at Husqvarna HQ, so I owe him. It’s the least I can do!

I escape from the grind of training and racing by…
Driving excavators. Lock yourself in the cab, crank the music; I’ll go all day and night.

I’m obsessed about…
A lot of things, but motorbikes are definitely on top of the list. There aren’t many minutes in a day I’m not thinking about riding. Honestly, I think that’s how you get faster. At the moment, I am also obsessed with surfing and it’s awesome for fitness, which helps with my riding too.

Don’t even start me about…
Slow drivers!