KTM's Grabham and Bewley podium at AORC rd7 & 8

Bewley continues to lead the big-bore E3 category aboard KTM's 300 EXC after taking second on both days behind Yamaha's Matt Phillips, while 4-5 results outright have him fourth in that series with two rounds remaining.
"Both days went reasonably well for me," Bewley reflected.
"I was in third all day on Saturday but got pipped at the post, so ended up fourth overall. I felt like I rode well all day and the bike was really good, so there was nothing I could do about that.
"On the second day I was in fourth pretty comfortably, and then on the seventh lap I had a pretty big crash and lost about 30 seconds. That put me back to fifth overall, but I was second in class on both days. Overall it was a pretty good weekend for me though."

Bewley leads the E3 class by 16 points, but trails Yamaha's Chris Hollis in the outright division by 26 points with one weekend (two rounds) of competition remaining.

In the E1 class, Ben Grabham returned to the podium with third on Saturday, before concluding his weekend with a fifth during Sunday's proceedings. Grabham retains second in E1, 32 points off Stefan Merriman. In the outright results, Grabham rode his 250 EXC-F to ninth on Saturday and 17th on Sunday, and is currently ranked seventh in the series against a field of larger capacity machines.
"I got through the first day without too much trouble with my hand, but then on the second day because the AORC tracks are tight and technical, it was hard on my hand," Grabham said.
"It is frustrating at times, but I have to consider the injuries I had, so I'm happy with the progress I'm making. We have a few more weeks before the next round, so hopefully I can make further steps forward."

Grabham will now turn his attention to defending his Australasian Safari title against KTM teammate and Dakar Rally legend Cyril Despres, the event getting underway in Western Australia on 22 September. Defending AORC champion Toby Price was ruled out of the weekend's action, currently recovering from surgery to correct 'intersection syndrome' in his arm.

The AORC series finale will take place at Salisbury in New South Wales on 2-3 October.