Merriman takes win

NSW Enduro Opener

www.fullnoise.com.au Off Road News

Five-time World Enduro Champion, Tauranga born and bred, Stefan Merriman, was the Outright victor at the first round of the 2013 Yamaha NSW Junior and Senior Sprint and Cross-Country Championships, held Saturday at Denman (NSW).

Merriman, 39, from Nelson Bay won by 20-seconds after the five special tests and about six hours on the bike. The CDR Yamaha rider backed up his impressive performance on Sunday, claiming second Outright by just six-seconds to winner, Glenn Kearney.

“It was a great event out there, the Denman Motorcycle Club did a brilliant job,” Merriman said. “The trail and tests were excellent. For an enduro, there was a lot of virgin ground - they put in a lot of effort putting up arrows to make new tracks and this is always refreshing.

“There were some challenging parts in the trail, some tricky rocky sections - it wasn’t all easy stuff, which made for a fun ride. The competition was good. Having [Glenn Kearney] there and Tom McCormack, Stefan Granquist, and Mitch Bowen was riding really fast too.

“The format worked well. They tried something new, with running the juniors in the morning and we started at 10am. The juniors basically did the special tests and a short trail ride and we had fresh, more technical trail and the tests in the afternoon.

“This meant that everyone got a longer course, as they usually have to cut the course in half," Merriman continued. “The juniors got to start early and were able to watch us in the afternoon. And it made it easier for us, because the tests were worn in by the time we raced them.

“All-in-all, it was a great weekend. My WR450F was working flawlessly and as always I loved riding it. “I’m looking forward to the next rounds at Portland the weekend before the next AORC rounds.”

Full results from the weekend can be found here BY CLICKING HERE

Merriman’s next race will be rounds three and four of the Yamaha NSW Sprint and Cross-Country Championships, being held at Portland on May 18th and 19th. For more info, or to enter, please visit: http://www.nswenduro.com.au/

His next national meeting will be the fifth and sixth rounds of the Yamaha Australian Off-Road Championship, being held at Corner Inlet (Victoria) from May 25th to 26th.

Round five will be run in cross-country format while round six of the AORC will be ran in sprint format.

Top Image: Stefan Merriman
Credit: 404shots