Hattah Desert Race – 5/07/2014
Hi All,
Last Saturday had us at Mildura, Victoria for the annual Hattah Desert Race. Ran by the North West Victorian Motorcycle Club, it is one of the highlights of the Offroad racing calendar year. With over 600 riders, 200 of them being juniors it is an awesome event for all to watch. We had been in Mildura since the SA AORC round 2 weeks before and spent the time with the boys riding and testing to have the best result they could on the day.
Friday night is the Scrutineering in the main street of Mildura. The road is blocked off and all 600 riders and bikes are on display for all to see, an awesome sight.
Saturday was an early start for the juniors with their prologue being run from 8am. All 4 riders from the KX Junior Squad were pitted together with a great presence that could not be missed. A 4.8km sprint loop to sort out the starting order for the main race later in the day was done first. Both Mitch and Josh knew the importance of a good lap to start up the front of the field to minimise the dust for the first lap. Both boys had a great run with the KX85’s running perfectly after the 2 weeks of testing. Mitch had an absolute flyer taking the 1st position in the class by 2 seconds. Such a good time, it had him in 17th outright of all the Juniors. Josh also did himself proud landing in 7th position in their class. Only 1 second between 4 riders. Both boys were very happy and got to rest till the main race at 2pm.
At 2pm the Big Wheel juniors lined up on the start grids in order with Mitch on the front row and Josh just behind on the second row. Both got off to a flying start knowing they would have to push hard for the 2 hours – 144km. Mitch went out hard with only one goal, to win his class. Unfortunately the race didn’t go to plan and he had a few large crashes while pushing hard in the lead, yet was able to finish and salvage a credible 10th place. Josh proved to be mister consistent and push hard through the race to come away with an exciting 3rd place on the podium.
Thanks all,
Josh#203 & Mitch#204
Josh and Mitch ride with Powerplus 99.