MILNER WINS 2019 HATTAH DESERT RACE

Heavy rain made for treacherous conditions at this year’s Hattah Desert Race on 7 July, with the course so impacted by the weather that the event was red-flagged ahead of schedule.

The race weekend had started out in dry conditions for the 400+ entrants, where KTM Enduro Racing Team’s Daniel Milner was fastest in the Senior Prologue. Recording a 2m45.41s lap of the 3.8km Prologue loop, Milner finished 2.09 seconds ahead of last year’s winner, Daniel Sanders of the Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team. Motul Pirelli Sherco’s Nathan Trigg was a further 3.8 seconds further back in third.

In the ‘Tenacious Women of Hattah’ Womens class, Emma Milesevic (Honda) rode a 3m09.57s Prologue lap, finishing ahead of Jessica Moore (KTM) and Jess Gardiner (Yamaha).

The Junior Prologue saw Lachlan Metcalf (KTM) quickest in the ‘small wheel’ machines with a 3m23.22s lap, while Blake Hollis (Yamaha) was fastest of the ‘big wheel’ junior competitors with a 2m55.47s lap.

On race day, the Senior entrants would be required to complete 8 laps of a 37km off-road course (296km in total) through the deserts outside Mildura, while the Womens class had to complete 4 laps of the same course. Juniors had 9 laps of a 12km course (65cc) and 7 laps of a 22km course (85cc) ahead of them.

Hattah is tough enough in dry conditions, with whoops and energy-sapping red dirt and ruts, but throw in rain and it makes this enduro all the more challenging.

The rain started soon after the race got underway and came in volume, followed by hail. Turning the course to mud and resulting in several crashes, the torrential rain led to several mechanical retirements, too.

With the mud compromising the ability of medical crews to reach crashed riders, the race was declared after the front runners had completed four of the planned eight laps.

In the lead when the red flag came out, Milner’s race-winning effort was all the more impressive given he was recovering from a broken collarbone and tendonitis.

“Things went our way in the race and we didn't miss a beat - the [KTM 500 EXC-F] was very similar to how I rode it last year in terms of set-up,” Milner explained.

“It really was a matter of making sure we could get through the race and it became a case of survival. The decision to cut the race short was the right one and I'm really happy to get another outright win here, that’s for sure.”

Snodgrass, who was more than three minutes behind Milner and leading the 251-450cc 4-stroke class when the race was declared, said he was also in ‘survival mode’: “It was a crazy one with all that rain coming down, making it a really tough mud race, so to finish second outright and first in class was definitely awesome. It was a matter of survival in those conditions by the time we got to the last lap.”

Second in class behind Snodgrass and completing the overall podium was Activ8 Yamalube Yamaha’s Josh Green. Eighth in prologue, Green overcame a heavy crash on lap two: “With the track getting hammered by the rain, I went over the ‘bars as I tried to plough through a deep, boggy spot. I have done some damage to my wrist (so) I was fortunate to get to the finish line with a good result.”

After leading the field early, Sanders’ attempt at back-to-back Hattah wins was hampered by a suspected electrical fault caused by water ingress and he was in fourteenth place when the race was declared. Sanders’ team mate Fraser Higlett, 38th in Prologue, was as high as sixth in the race before retiring on the third lap.

Moore won the Tenacious Women of Hattah from Milesevic and Gardiner, while Metcalf won the Junior Small Wheel and Angus Riordan (KTM) the Junior Big Wheel class.