Doug Strauss #44
AORC Round 1 Bulahdelah NSW
The format for round 1 was a 3 hour cross country with the combination of steep, rocky, bulldust terrain with some creek crossings and fast, open grass track. The track was located at Markwell, 17km out of Bulahdelah (approx. 1.5 hours north of Newcastle NSW).
It was a tough race with the temperature in excess of 35 degrees and extremely humid. The track had also copped a hiding due to the clubman, women and veteran riders having raced on the track for 3 hours in the morning previous to the pro/expert class start. I had an average start but managed to gain a few positions back in the first lap and found my speed and tried to pace myself for the 3 hours of the race that remained. As the race went on the track got a lot rougher and the blisters set in. I pushed on and finished the race, getting 8 laps of the challenging track in the time period. I placed 53rd outright in the combined class of pro/expert E1, E2 and E3. Stefan Merriman took 1st place, Chris Hollis 2nd and Jarrod Bewley finished off the podium in 3rd place.
AORC Round 2 Bulahdelah NSW
Round 2 on the Sunday was sprint format on a shortened and reversed track from Saturdays cross country.
It took me about a lap and a half to get in my zone and get up to a sprint style speed, opposed to pacing myself like I had to during Saturdays 3 hour cross country, but laps 3, 4 and 5 where solid and found some pace and was able to charge the entire 11 minutes or so of each lap. I finished Sunday in a respectable position of 21st in class with Ben Grabham securing 1st place, former Australian and world champion Stefan Merriman taking 2nd place and Tom McCormack rounding out the Pro E1 class podium with a 3rd place finish.
Summary
My 2011 KTM 250 SX-F performed way above expectations and didn’t miss a beat all weekend. The fitness training I have been undertaking throughout the off season also payed off, especially when it came to recovering from Saturdays cross country.
I would like to thank my sponsors:
· Kessner KTM
· Motorex Oils
· Cross Training Systems
· Fox
· Alpinestars
Well done doug, keep up the good work and look forward to seeing the next race report
AORC Round 1 Bulahdelah NSW
The format for round 1 was a 3 hour cross country with the combination of steep, rocky, bulldust terrain with some creek crossings and fast, open grass track. The track was located at Markwell, 17km out of Bulahdelah (approx. 1.5 hours north of Newcastle NSW).
It was a tough race with the temperature in excess of 35 degrees and extremely humid. The track had also copped a hiding due to the clubman, women and veteran riders having raced on the track for 3 hours in the morning previous to the pro/expert class start. I had an average start but managed to gain a few positions back in the first lap and found my speed and tried to pace myself for the 3 hours of the race that remained. As the race went on the track got a lot rougher and the blisters set in. I pushed on and finished the race, getting 8 laps of the challenging track in the time period. I placed 53rd outright in the combined class of pro/expert E1, E2 and E3. Stefan Merriman took 1st place, Chris Hollis 2nd and Jarrod Bewley finished off the podium in 3rd place.
AORC Round 2 Bulahdelah NSW
Round 2 on the Sunday was sprint format on a shortened and reversed track from Saturdays cross country.
It took me about a lap and a half to get in my zone and get up to a sprint style speed, opposed to pacing myself like I had to during Saturdays 3 hour cross country, but laps 3, 4 and 5 where solid and found some pace and was able to charge the entire 11 minutes or so of each lap. I finished Sunday in a respectable position of 21st in class with Ben Grabham securing 1st place, former Australian and world champion Stefan Merriman taking 2nd place and Tom McCormack rounding out the Pro E1 class podium with a 3rd place finish.
Summary
My 2011 KTM 250 SX-F performed way above expectations and didn’t miss a beat all weekend. The fitness training I have been undertaking throughout the off season also payed off, especially when it came to recovering from Saturdays cross country.
I would like to thank my sponsors:
· Kessner KTM
· Motorex Oils
· Cross Training Systems
· Fox
· Alpinestars
Well done doug, keep up the good work and look forward to seeing the next race report
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