Milner wins 2018 A4DE
Milner was fastest over each day of this year’s A4DE (including winning his first ever motocross race on the final day) to claim the outright win in hot and dusty conditions by just over a minute from Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team’s Daniel Sanders, with Active8 Yamalube Yamaha’s Josh Green a further three minutes back in third overall.
Milner also secured the E3 class win (his first after past victories in E2), while E2 went to Sanders and E1 was won by Active8 Yamalube Yamaha’s Luke Styke in his A4DE debut.
“I’m pretty stoked, that’s for sure,” Milner stated after his win. “The last A4DE I did didn’t go to plan, so to be able to rack up my fifth A4DE win out here in Cessnock is a pretty big deal for me. It was definitely difficult out there. It was probably one of the most difficult A4Des I’ve done in years.”
Despite stating how hard this year’s course was, Milner proved to be unstoppable on his KTM 500 EXC-F, taking reasonably comfortable victories across all four days and leaving E3 rivals like Lachlan Stanford (Husqvarna) and Broc Grabham (Gas Gas) in his wake; eventually finishing more than five minutes ahead of Stanford.
In E2, Sanders proved to be equally dominant, handling the powdery track better than his rivals, especially in the opening couple of days. Despite a challenge from Green on the final day’s moto as he adjusted to the conditions, Sanders held on to record the E2 class win by almost three minutes, but couldn’t nudge Milner for the overall.
Green’s team mate Wil Ruprecht finished third in the E2 class, just under a minute and a half behind. In E1, Styke’s motocross background came to the fore and he won the final day’s moto contest comfortably, but proved to be surprisingly capable in the previous three days’ enduro tests, too.
Third on the opening day behind Jack Simpson (KTM) and Fraser Higlett (Husqvarna), Styke took the win on Day 2 as Simpson fell back through the field. Competition was close though, with Higlett finishing little more than a minute behind Styke at the end of Day 4, while Michael Driscoll (Yamaha) was also close in third.
In the Women’s class, Yamaha’s Jess Gardiner equalled Milner’s efforts to take her fifth A4DE Women’s title, finishing ahead of Jemma Wilson, in her last Four Day, and Emelie Karlsson.
2018 Australian Four Day Enduro – results
Outright
1. Daniel Milner, KTM, 2h00:48.454 min
2. Daniel Sanders, Husqvarna, +1:09.3 min
3. Josh Green, Yamaha, +4:02.1 min
4. Luke Styke, Yamaha, +4:26.0 min
5. Lachlan Stanford, Husqvarna, +5:13.2 min
E3 Category
1. Daniel Milner, KTM – 2:00:48.454
2. Lachlan Stanford, Husqvarna – 2:06:01.626
3. Broc Grabham, Gas Gas – 2:07:39.257
E2 Category
1. Daniel Sanders, Husqvarna – 2:01:57.804
2. Josh Green, Yamaha – 2:04.50.584
3. Wil Ruprecht, Yamaha – 2:06:19.332
E1 Category
1. Luke Styke, Yamaha – 2:05:14.483
2. Fraser Higlett, Husqvarna – 2:06:34.727
3. Michael Driscoll, Yamaha – 2:07:03.881
Womens Category
- Jessica Gardiner, Yamaha – 2:24:26.590
- Jemma Wilson, Yamaha – 2:25:09.940
- Emelie Karlsson, Yamaha – 2:28:19.036
Images: John Pearson Media
