Hollis

Last weekend (22nd - 23rd of April) Chris Hollis travelled to Wodonga to compete in Round 2 of the Australian Off-Road Championships and posted his best results to date. On Saturday he ended the day equal 1st outright with AJ Roberts but was a bit off the pace after a couple of falls on Sunday to end the event in 3rd outright.

He won 7 of the 11 heats in the Pro E1 class to easily take 1st place in class from Ben Kearney and Jehi Willis. After 2 heats of the championship, he now sits at 3rd in E1, only 2 points from the leader, Kearney.

Well done Chris and keep up the good work! FROM HVMCC NOTICEBOARD by Bill Armitage

CLICK HERE TO GO TO HVMCC FORUM NOTICEBOARD

Ballard’s Offroad Yamaha Motorex Team Rnd 2 Offroad Championships from Eat My Dirt

Ballard’s team riders along with Yamaha Motors rider AJ Roberts yet again dominated much of the competition at the second round of the 2006 Off Road Championships held on the 22nd & 23rd of April 2006.

Contested at the impressive Albury Wodonga Motorcycle Club complex located on the Murray River, eleven heats were raced in much more pleasant conditions than the previous dry and dusty Gulgong round. Some rain on Friday made the conditions just about perfect for racing and green grass in the pit area was somewhat of a novelty.

The Ballard’s Offroad Yamaha Motorex Team enjoyed a trouble free weekend that saw their riders take out five class wins for the weekend.

Yamaha YZF 450 mounted AJ Roberts again took the Overall Outright win but only after an intense battle between Pro E1 Ballard’s WR250F mounted Chris Hollis and VSM Kawasaki rider Josh Strang.

On Saturday Chris Hollis came out firing to win outright, two of the days six heats and end the day on equal outright points with AJ. However on Sunday Chris could only manage the outright win in the first of five heats as the increasingly difficult bush sections on the track began to favor the more powerful capacities.

On the motocross sections of the track Chris was equal to any challengers throughout the weekend and must now certainly be considered a serious contender for an outright podium position in the series.

Chris Hollis also easily took out the win in the Pro E1 class finishing 22 points ahead of KTM’s Jehi Willis with Ben Kearney in third.

2006 Yamaha Australian Off Road Series in Wodonga (Exerts from Report at Motorcycling Australia Website)

Ballards Motorex rider Chris Hollis proved he will be a constant podium threat in the competition this weekend after taking a hard-earned third overall placing as well as blitzing the competition in the Pro E1 class.

Hollis was in the thick of a tense top-end battle with fellow Yamaha rider Anthony Roberts and Kawasaki’s Josh Strang and was unlucky to drop to third after ending Saturday’s heat races in equal first with Roberts.

Holding his own in the motocross sections of the track, Hollis attributed his performance to a great track and conditions, while a couple of minor falls slowed his progress.

Hollis, now in his second year of full-time enduro combat, won two of the opening three heats on Saturday, with a couple of seconds to spare over Roberts.

The 21-year-old then pinched another victory on Sunday to complete the outright fixture in third overall behind Roberts and Strang.

“The track was awesome and had a real motocross feel to it which suited me perfectly,” said Hollis. “The testing a week before really paid off and the conditions were just right for racing; it had rained the day before which made the track perfect.”

“There was some really good close competition at the top and it was an enjoyable battle between myself, AJ (Roberts) and Josh Strang – a couple of falls let me down and I was just beaten to second on the (outright) podium by Josh.”

“It’s been a great start and I can’t wait to have another go at the top next round.”Obviously, Hollis’ heroics in the outright class also translated into big E1 points, as he won seven of the 11 heats, with Willis and Kearney sharing the ‘leftovers’.

AJ Roberts who won Round 2, was quoted saying “(Chris) Hollis and (Josh) Strang pushed me hard all weekend, which was just the dress rehearsal I was looking for before flying out for the world enduro round.”

The full story and results from Wodonga can be found at motorcycling Australia

http://www.ma.org.au