Milner and Bacon share the AORC spoils at Kingston

2024 Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC)
Rounds 9 & 10 – Kingston SE

Conditions were ideal for the majority of the weekend for rounds nine and ten of the Australian Off Road Championship (AORC) where competitors faced a challenging three hour Cross-Country event on Saturday and then returned on Sunday to contest the Sprint format.

Despite not racing the same classes, Saturday was the first time this season Kyron Bacon and Daniel Milner went head to head. The pair charged off together in the Cross-Country race and left the field in their dust. The duo gapped the field and engaged in their own personal feud at the front of the pack.

How close were they matched? Lap five of the 29-minute loop saw their lap times separated by .05 of a second. In the end, Milner got the win when he muscled his way passed Bacon within sight of the finish line to take the win ahead of Bacon. They were three minutes clear of third and Bacon was over eight minutes ahead of his rivals in the E1 division.

Milner’s perfect 2024 run came unstuck on Sunday when the 32-year-old copped a dislocated shoulder that saw the KTM spearhead unable to complete Sunday’s stages.

Daniel Milner

“Was an up and down weekend at Rounds 9 and 10 of the AORC with a win in Saturday’s three-hour cross-country, having an awesome battle with Kyron Bacon who was running an impressive pace. Unfortunately, in today’s round 10 sprints I had a big fall in the second test and dislocated my shoulder. Thanks to the help of Les McMahon and my team, we strapped it the best we could to try get back out there. Unfortunately within the 2 km of test I rode, it popped out three more times almost putting me in to a tree on the third time. After that I decide it was time to pull up. It’s disappointing knowing all the hard work that is going in to this and we will be doing every single thing possible to be at the last round. Thanks to everyone that helped me all weekend. Also to the people the continue to support me.”

Young Tasmanian Kyron Bacon has run Milner close all season, and the Yamaha WR250F rider took advantage of Milner’s misfortune to claim the mantle as outright fastest on Sunday and take the E1 double in South Australia.

Kyron Bacon

“I’m pretty happy with the weekend and to finally get some good results, but more importantly, I rode well on both days,” Bacon begins. “Racing Daniel was good yesterday, and we were never further than a few seconds apart the whole time. I felt him on me, and we both upped the pace on the last lap, and I made a mistake, and he was able to get by. I was a bit fatigued coming into today, but once we got going, I was fine. I was clean in most of the laps and didn’t have any major issues so it was a drama free day and the team did a great job behind the scenes to keep things rolling. The final weekend isn’t too far away and there is still plenty to race for so its back to work this week to ensure I finish the championship strongly and look for another winning weekend.”

Korey McMahon (GASGAS) was second in E1 across both days ahead of KTM’s Tom Buxton.  McMahon trails Bacon by only 13-points in the E1 title quest.

Korey McMahon

“I’m really stoked to finish second outright and get my best result of the year in round 10. Saturday’s three-hour Cross Country race was brutal! I got an awesome start and scored the holeshot, but then later on I hit a tree branch on the side of the track in a tight section and had a big get-off. I then had another crash on the second lap, but was able to get back into the groove and finish strong. On Sunday I had some good battles with Kyron Bacon and it was encouraging that I’m able to bring the fight to him now that I’m working with a new trainer. It’s a slow process, but I know what we’re doing is working and I’m seeing improvements at each race.”

Tom Buxton

“Saturday’s Cross Country was pretty wild. I got pumped up on the first lap with how rough and tight it was, but I was able to shake it off and get into a good rhythm. By that stage the other E1 boys had pulled a gap on me and I couldn’t close it. Sunday’s Sprint tests were super-rough as it was on part of the track we’d used the day before, but I was happy with how I rode and I got better as the day went on. I’d like to be closer to the guys up front and we’ve got one more weekend to close that gap and finish further up the podium.”

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While Milner had claimed E2 honours on Saturday ahead of Andy Wilksch (Beta) and Jonte Reynders (Sherco). Reynders came to the fore on Sunday, breaking through for his first-class victory ahead of Will Dennett (Yamaha) and Beau Ralston (Kawasaki).

Jonte Reynders

“Round 10 was brutal. After a tough day yesterday, I’m definitely feeling it. To get our first win of the season is fantastic, and I’m just stoked! The tracks had super deep sand that got really choppy. You couldn’t really get off the main line, and I found it difficult to find my flow. So to come away with the win has been really special. I hope Milner is okay after a nasty get-off, and I wish him a quick recovery. Hopefully, we see him at the final rounds.”

Despite Milner’s mishap and lack of score on Sunday, he still retains a handy 26-point advantage over Reynders in the E2 category with two rounds of racing remaining this season.

Beta’s Jye Dickson took top honours in the big-bore E3 category on both days ahead of KTM’s Riley McGillivray.   Stefan Granquist was third on Saturday while Billy Hargy took that third step on the E3 rostrum on Sunday.

Riley McGillivray

“I got a great start to Saturday’s race, but tipped it over pretty early on and lost a lot of ground. My arms pumped up pretty bad and it took a few laps for them to flush out, but once that happened I could push for the second half of the race and make up a lot of time. For how tough the track was, I was happy with my fitness. Sunday was reasonably smooth and I rode consistently, but I didn’t have anything for the leader and he edged out a few more championship points on me. There’re only a few weeks until Nowra, so I’ll work hard and give myself the best chance possible of taking the title there.”

Billy Hargy

“I’m feeling really beat up from yesterday. I had a huge crash during the Cross Country race where I hit something, got the swaps, then got spat over the handlebars. I tried to continue, but I was in no state to keep going and had to DNF. Today I woke up feeling probably the sorest I’ve ever felt, but I struggled through the pain around a really rough track and scraped in for third. It’s disappointing to be out of championship contention now, but I’ve got to keep reminding myself I’m one of the youngest in the field and I’ll keep chipping away at it every year.”

In the Women’s contest it was a Danielle McDonald clean-sweep of proceedings ahead of fellow Yamaha JGR Ballard’s team-mate Jessica Gardiner. Emelie Karlsson third on both days.

Yamaha’s Jett Yarnold pipped Husqvarna’s Eli Tripcony for the EJ wins on both days with Cody Howell rounding out the podium.

Round Nine Senior Outright

E1 (100cc-200cc 2/ & 150cc-250cc 4/)
Round Nine

E2 (220cc-250cc 2/ & 275cc-450cc 4/)
Round Nine

E3 (290cc-500cc 2/ & 475cc-650cc 4/)
Round Nine

EW (Women) All Powers Results
Round Nine

EJ (16 to U18) All Powers Top 10 Results
Round Nine

Round Ten Senior Outright

E1 (100cc-200cc 2/ & 150cc-250cc 4/)
Round Ten

E2 (220cc-250cc 2/ & 275cc-450cc 4/)
Round Ten

E3 (290cc-500cc 2/ & 475cc-650cc 4/)
Round Ten

EW (Women) All Powers Results
Round Ten

EJ (16 to U18) All Powers Top 10 Results
Round Ten

2024 AORC Standings after Round Ten

E1 Standings

E2 Standings – Top 20

E3 Standings

EW Standings

EJ Standings

The AORC moves to Nowra in NSW next time out for rounds 11 and 12 on the September 14-15 weekend for the final bouts that will decide this year’s AORC Champions.