Styke Goes Back To Back in AORC

Yamaha Active8 Yamalube Racing’s, Luke Styke, has surged to back to back E1 class championships after securing victory at the final round of the Australian Off-Road Championship over the weekend. Styke came into the final weekend of racing carrying a 16 point lead in the E1 (250cc) category, but couldn’t afford to take it easy as a gruelling weekend was ahead and plenty of hours of racing still to be completed.

In Saturday’s Cross-Country event, Styke started strongly and was leading the E1 class, but made some mistakes in the later stages of the 3-hour race, allowing his championship rival, Lyndon Snodgrass, to steal the round victory and move three points closer. With the gap now at 13 points, Styke needed to finish inside the top five on Sunday to win the class if Snodgrass snatched the final round victory. But in typical Styke style, he won the final round in another strong performance and rolled across the finish line with his fist in the air celebrating another successful AORC campaign.

Luke Styke: “Its good to get the championship win and go back to back in the E1 class. I struggled a bit on Saturday as my energy dropped dramatically in the final stages and I wasn’t at my best, but I was able to regroup overnight, get some food and hydration in and felt much better on Sunday morning. The team did a great job again and the bike was perfect all weekend. Three hours on a 250 on a fast and sandy course is hard work and then the boys put some hours in on Saturday night and it ran strongly. Thanks to the event organisers and sponsors on another great series and I also would like to congratulate Lyndon, Fraser and Michael on making the E1 class a great race and exciting challenge this year.”