Ballards ready for A4DE

by Dave · July 4, 2007

Yamaha’s Ballards Off Road team will look to mix it with the 2007 Australian 4 Day Enduro (A4DE) frontrunners from tomorrow morning, with riders confident of throwing down a challenge in familiar territory. The factory Yamaha operation will field a quality lineup, with Chris Hollis, Jarrod Bewley, Shannon Lewry, Josh Ballard, Geoff Ballard and Alison Parker eager to get going.

Held on the picturesque Coffs Coast, the demanding course consists of varying trails and tracks mostly within State Forest, with private property tests and small sections of National Park trails surrounding the Coramba and Coffs Harbour area.The terrain varies dependent on each of the carefully planned tests, but riders will come across a variety of soils, shale and decomposed granite, as well as slippery red clay.

And while the team is a regular contender for class victory during the national championship rounds, the A4DE adds a further element of difficulty with a strong and experienced international presence.
The team are today putting the finishing touches on their campaign and will kick off early tomorrow morning.Jarrod Bewley is one rider who will be keen to keep his win streak alive, having dominated his class to date in the 2007 Yamaha Australian Off Road Championship.

“Everyone’s been looking forward to this for a while and this year we’ve got some really tough competition from overseas,” said Bewley. “It should be a great event and I’m pretty confident with my current form. In taking a look around the track today it is not going to be difficult, just physically demanding. There are a lot of fast riders and to beat them I’ll need to be at my best at every test and section across every day.”

Chris Hollis is another rider with the potential to challenge for a top outright placing, with the WR250F-mounted having extensive experience racing in the area.

“The weather has been perfect in the leadup to the A4DE and it will be a lot of fun, the rain has created the perfect surface though I’ll be on the lookout for any slippery areas that develop,” said Hollis.”My training routine hasn’t really changed in the leadup, it’s just about focusing on the task at hand and producing consistent results.”

If her form is anything to go by, current national Women’s champion Alison Parker will be unstoppable in the female ranks, and she is eager to get her four-day campaign underway.”It’s been a while since we’ve been on track and I’m very keen to get out there tomorrow and put together a really good 4 days of racing,” said Parker.”I’ve upped the training routine to include a lot of gym work, as well as spending as much time on the bike as I can.””The conditions look perfect after walking the special tests this morning, the recent rainfall means there is no dust so the riding shouldn’t be too demanding, it’s just about putting together 4 consistent days. It’s also the first time the A4DE has been recognised as an Australian championship event for women, we’ve reached the required number of competitors, and there will be a few international entries as well which is exciting.” The A4DE has designed to be very spectator-friendly, with a number of good opportunities to catch the Ballards Yamaha Off Road riders in full flight.For a full program of events, please visit the official website at www.a4de.com.