CDR Yamaha goes 1-2 at 2014 Enduro-X Rd1
Held in balmy conditions at Brisbane's Archerfield Speedway and in front of a good crowd, Hollis not only made a perfect start to his debut race with the CDR Yamaha Off Road team.
After qualifying comfortably, Hollis was confident of a good showing in the Pro Class final, which ran three races back-to-back with just a few minutes break between each.
Hollis showed good speed and consistency to take second place in the opening two motos. The final moto ended up being a shootout between the CDR team mates, with Hollis fighting his way past Milner to take the race win. The combined 2-2-1 results gave him the overall round victory.
"It was a good way to start the year both for myself and the team," Hollis said after his victory. "I was able to get good starts in all three races, not make too many major mistakes and race the conditions the best I could and fortunately that was good enough to win.
"This style of event can be hard as you have to be aggressive but also look after the bike as it is easy to wreck your race by charging too hard. The YZ250F was perfect all day and I don't think it has a scratch on it which is a nice way to finish and also gives the guys back at the race shop a slightly easier week.
"It's great to get the win and the CDR Yamaha team really put in the hard yards so it's important to reward them with good results. Hopefully this is just the beginning."
Daniel Milner, last year's A4DE winner, made it a team 1-2 as he finished in the shadow of Hollis after the points were added up.
A fall in race one while leading cost Milner dearly. He picked up his machine and charged to the finish, but could only managed a fourth place finish. Race two saw him rebound well to lead from wire to wire for the race win, while race three saw Milner and Hollis battle it out with Hollis making the pass late to claim the win.
Milner finished with 4-1-2 results and took a well-deserved second place for the round.
"Finishing on the podium is always the goal of any rider at the opening round of the season so it's good to hit that mark and put myself in championship contention. It's only a short championship held over three rounds so no rider can afford to make a mistake and have any hope of winning.
"It was good fun out there and I had some good battles with Chris. He got the win today and deserves his result but I look forward to racing with him again and next time going one better," he laughed.
On hand to see his team kick off the year in fine style was team owner, Craig Dack. Since taking the reins of the factory Yamaha Off Road team last year, Dack has already enjoyed success and also enjoyed the unique Enduro-X format in his first experience of the event.
"Racing Enduro-X is not easy and at times it can be quite brutal out there with some daunting looking obstacles. Because I come from a motocross back ground, we really had to rely on the riders to tell us what they wanted from their bikes and to their credit they told us exactly what was required for them to get the job done.
"Both riders did an exceptional job and our off road technical knowledge is continually growing. The team is gelling well as both riders worked together today on lines and have forged a good relationship with the entire crew. The result today is a good jump start to the year. I look forward to the next round."
2014 ENDURO-X - Round 1 Results
Pro Class
1 Chris HOLLIS - CDR Yamaha - YZ 250F
2 Daniel MILNER - CDR Yamaha - YZ 250F
3 Toby PRICE - KTM Enduro Racing Team - 350 EXC-F
4 Peter BOYLE - KTM Enduro Racing Team - 250 EXC-F
5 Stefan GRANQUIST - Active8 Yamaha - YZ 250
Round 2 of Enduro-X 2014 takes place - under lights - at Parramatta Speedway on February 16 15, with the final round at Melbourne's Calder Park on March 2. For more information, go to www.enduro-x.com.au.