Phillips and Ballard win the Tasmanian 8-Hour

The Tasmanian 8-Hour was held last weekend at Oldina Forest in Tasmania’s northwest with the Phillards team, of Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road’s Matt Phillips and Josh Ballard, winning the event.

Organised by the Tasmanian Endurance Riders Club (TERC), over 150 riders from all over Australia made their way to race the 15-kilometre track, which consisted of pine forests, natural terrain and fire trails. The racing saw competitors team up and attempt to do the most laps within the eight hours – much like this year’s _Transmoto 12 Hour_.

Matt Phillips and Josh Ballard teamed up for the 8-Hour, and we apply called them Team Phillards.

The Phillards team topped the podium with 21 laps, followed by Shaun Murfett and Andy Lethborg, 20, in second with Tom Jones and Ben Iles, 20, rounding out the podium.

“It was a great event,” said Tasmanian-born Matt Phillips. “I haven’t rode on a track that good in a long time.

“Geoff, Josh and myself brought the Ballard’s Off-Road truck down to Tassie for the event.

“It was good to get back home and catch up with friends and family. There were heaps of riders at the event and it was a really good atmosphere.”

A lot of fuel for a lot of racers

Phillips teammate Josh Ballard also enjoyed the mood of the event. “I had a great time,” said Ballard. “The track was a mixture of pine forests and fire roads and it was a long lap – about 20 minutes. But I had no problems passing lappers; everyone was friendly and would move out of your way. It was great.”

Nine moto-fanatics decided to tackle the course solo, with the standout, Baylee Davis, successfully finished 19 laps, winning the Solo class and taking sixth Outright.

Derek Grundy and Geoff Ballard finished in fourth Outright, successfully completing 20 laps.

Club President of the TERC, Andrew Bacon, said the conditions were excellent for the eight-hour. “We couldn’t have picked a better day,” said Bacon. “The weather was around 20 degrees and earlier in the week it had rained so it settled the dust on race.”

Bacon goes on to say the club are looking to make next year’s event even bigger, “Next year we hope to expand the event and get more riders from the mainland to complete. We had Matt Phillips, Josh Ballard and Geoff Ballard come down and all the other competitors loved it. It would be great if we can get more pro riders involved next year.”