The ShopYamaha Off Road Racing Team picked up where they left off in 2022 with Kyron Bacon and Josh Green dominating the opening weekend of the 2023 season at the Australian Off Road Championships, held at Mendooran, NSW.
With some lead up rain, the fast and sandy conditions were perfect on day one and cut up to be a rough and challenging course for riders on day two. With over 350 bikes entered for the event, it was a record number of riders to start the new year. To view the ShopYamaha bLU cRU round review: https://youtu.be/FYNlOPzZOhs
Bacon and Green dominated their respective classes on both days and split outright victories to share bragging rights within the team.
For the current champion, Kyron Bacon, sand isn’t always his preferred surface and the fast nature of the Mendooran venue meant he would need to ride the wheels off his 250 to stand a chance against the bigger capacity machines. After a slow start, by his standards, on day one, Bacon began to find his feet in the sand and managed to claw his way back to the front in the E1 (250cc) class and second Outright to Green in the overall standings.
Day two dawned and with the tests and loops now carved up from the pounding they copped the day prior, suddenly horsepower wasn’t the necessary ingredient to win, and Bacon found his way back to the top of the heap. Of the six sprints held on Sunday, Bacon dominated and cleared out to win the E1 class by one minute and 40 seconds and outright by nearly a minute in a performance that will make his rivals nervous.
“I’m just excited to be back and racing again,” says Tasmanian based Bacon. “After the last rounds in 2022, I took a bit of time off to refresh but since the new year I have been hard at it and working particularly hard on my sand riding as it’s never been my strong point.
“I was a bit rough on Saturday but once I got into the swing it and the course was ridden in, I was able to generate a good speed and get back the time I lost in the first few laps.
“The bike was awesome all weekend and its good to be back with the boys. We all get along good and it’s a good vibe just riding dirt bikes with your mates,” Bacon ends.
Josh Green came out swinging on day one and knew he had to make hay while the sun shined, the track was smooth and he had the horsepower advantage. Green took control in the early going with a fast and consistent speed that was just a step above his competitors. He convincingly won the E2 (450cc) division and pipped Bacon for the Outright victory by 18 seconds.
Sunday again saw the veteran take control of the E2 class, winning five of the six sprint laps and the round win in the process. His times were also good enough for second place outright behind Bacon and cap off a great start to the championship for the team.
“I got him on day one,” Green laughs. “Its always good to have a day win up my sleeve when the Tasmanian gets a little mouthy. “But seriously, it was a great weekend for the team and an awesome start to the year for us. It was good to see Kyron improve his sand riding and recognise that was his weak point and then come out do and race well on both days.
“For me, I enjoy this kind of riding and the weekend was a lot of fun. The rain on Friday was awesome as it made the sand thicker and more fun, and it also made it cut up quicker, so Sunday was hard work.
“The team had the bike in great shape and we got through with just usual maintenance so we can all move forward to the next round and be confident we are in a good place. Thank you to everyone for the support and excited to go racing again in a few weeks’ time,” Green ends.
Rounds three and four of the Australian Off Road Championship take place at Queensland Moto Park on April 22/23 where the sands of Mendooran will be replaced by the hard clay and rocks of Boonah.
AORC Results
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AORC Results
Round One
E1
1st Kyron Bacon (Yamaha)
2nd Korey McMahon
3rd Cooper Sheidow (Yamaha)
E2
1st Josh Green (Yamaha)
2nd Jye Dickson
3rd Fraser Higlett
Outright
1st Josh Green – E2 (Yamaha)
2nd Kyron Bacon – E1 (Yamaha)
3rd Korey McMahon – E1
4th Sam Pretscherer – E3
5th Jye Dickson - E2
6th William Dennett- EJ (Yamaha)
7th Cooper Shiedow – E1 (Yamaha)
8th Fraser Higlett – E2
9th Jonte Reynders – E2
10th Stefan Granquist – E3
Round Two
E1
1st Kyron Bacon (Yamaha)
2nd Korey McMahon
3rd Cooper Sheidow (Yamaha)
E2
1st Josh Green (Yamaha)
2nd Jye Dickson
3rd Jonte Reynders
Outright
1st Kyron Bacon – E1 (Yamaha)
2nd Josh Green – E2 (Yamaha)
3rd Jye Dickson – E2
4th Korey McMahon – E1
5th William Dennett – EJ (Yamaha)
6th Sam Pretscherer – E3
7th Cooper Sheidow – E1 (Yamaha)
8th Jonte Reynders – E2
9th Fraser Higlett – E2
10th Kodi Stephens – E2