Ballard’s Motorex Off Road Yamaha March 2006

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A technical and dust-laden course proved little distraction to the Ballard’s Motorex Off Road team who experienced an encouraging level of success across the weekend..Three of the six Ballard’s riders took comprehensive victories in their respective classes, typified by an amazing display of precision and skill from multiple Australian Women’s Champion Alison Parker.

Despite admitting the course was quite challenging, Parker swept the field in each and every heat and ended the weekend around 15 minutes ahead of her closest class rival.

“It was a great weekend of riding, I won seven from seven heats pretty convincingly and ended up with a pretty large lead in the end,” said an elated Parker.

“It was a physically tough track to ride, very hot, dry and dusty, but the layout was excellent and really suited my style,” she said.

“The deep ruts and loose dirt were testing at times but I kept at it and brought home the results.”

“Yamaha and the Ballard’s Motorex team provided me with a flawless bike in the WR250F, I couldn’t have been happier with it,” she ended.

Jason Cater notched up another victory for Ballard’s in the Expert Veterans category, easily outgunning his rivals across the challenging terrain.

A slight problem with the brakes in an early heat did little to disrupt his winning momentum, the Yamaha WR250F more than up to the arduous task it was presented with.

“I had a good win this weekend despite a few brake dramas on the Saturday,” Cater stated.

“The course was really demanding on both rider and bike with the dust and loose sand patches making it pretty hard, so the win was even more satisfying in that respect.”

“Anyone will tell you I’m pretty hard on the equipment but my Yamaha really stood up to the conditions and provided me with the best possible start to the year,” he said.

Off-road endurance racing stalwart and team owner Geoff Ballard put in an exceptionally consistent display, demonstrating the hard-work and skill that took him to the peak of the sport for so long.

Ballard cruised his WR450F to class victory in the Over 45’s despite coming into the weekend recovering from injury.

“It was a great result today for myself and even more so for the team,” said Ballard.

“Alison and Jason scored very solid wins across the board and this puts them in the best possible position championship-wise.”

“It is always good to score a win yourself of course and especially on such a challenging track,” he ended.

Making his riding debut for Ballard’s, Chris Hollis was hampered by the dry and dusty track conditions in the first few heats but made steady improvements across the weekend.

A few small bike changes adjusted the handling to Hollis’ liking and he was extremely positive about the potential of his WR250F heading into round two.

“Fourth outright in the Pro E1 class was a pretty stable result from the weekend for me, especially as I struggled initially in the dusty conditions.”

“I hadn’t had much experience in the terrain we raced on, being more of a motocross rider, but adapted pretty well after some changes after Saturday’s heats.”

“There were some very deep ruts on the technical courses which really did throw up a bit of a challenge.”

“I’d like to think I get score some better results as the season goes on.”

The Ballard’s Motorex Off Road team performances were complemented by strong rides from Jarrad Bewley and Josh Ballard who both also managed 4th in their respective classes.

Bewley made consistent gains in each heat of the Pro E2 class and finished ahead of a number of big-name riders while Ballard was troubled by some small mistakes early in the weekend which prevented a better overall finish.

The string of multiple victories was an obvious highlight for the Yamaha factory-backed outfit, though the chance to further develop and refine the race machinery was also extremely valuable.

Round two of the Australian Endurance Championship will be held on April 23-24 at Albury-Wodonga, where Anthony Roberts and the Ballard’s Motorex Off Road team will look to further their winning momentum