EP#37 - AEC Wrap Rd1/2 with Jeff Briggs

We caught up with ADB's Jeff Briggs to discuss everything that happened at Rd1 and 2 of the 2026 AEC from flooding to, technical tracks and who looked fast after a long pre-season. Briggsy was there racing the Vets for us so got a firsthand account!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to the ADB podcast, where we talk all things dirt with your host, Mitch Lee. G'day ADB team, we're back again with another podcast. This time uh we're actually gonna wrap up the first two rounds of the AEC. Well, it's actually gonna be a one-round wrap because unfortunately day two was um rained out. But uh yeah, we're gonna wrap up uh round one and everything that happened over there. We had a man on the ground, Jeff Briggs. Briggsy's gonna join us in um well actually now, Briggsy, Briggs' gonna join us. Thanks for coming on the podcast to talk about uh AEC round one, Briggsie.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Yeah, no, thanks for having me. Uh it was a good event and can't wait to get into it.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

Uh yeah, it was. All the social media we saw looked pretty awesome from the from day one. Obviously, disappointing what happened on day two. No one can control the weather, so it just is what it is, but uh looked like a fantastic track. Then the um the uh promoter and the and the club that put it together and all the people that uh had to set the track up. I know um speaking with Green a couple couple of weeks ago before uh the series kicked off. We we know how much work goes into getting these rounds set up, and it looked awesome, so that's um credit to them. But before we get into this podcast, I am gonna thank our sponsors for the podcast, and that is Dunlop. Uh Dunlop have the AT82 tire that they're sponsoring this show with, which is a multi-directional uh off-road tyre, and it's pretty cool. You can actually the knobs work for different terrains. So they've got a um a kind of a hard compound and a soft compound on either side of the knobs, and you can flick the tie around and get better traction depending on the terrain that you're on. So that's the Dunlop AT-82, should go check it out. And also want to say uh I want to thank Shirko Australia. Uh, if you think about upgrading your Enduro bike, listen up because it's big. Sherko has just launched an incredible low-rate finance offer on their latest 2026 factory two-stroke range. Uh they've got what they've got, 3.89% comparison rate over two years or a 4.89% comparison rate over three years. Um, so you've just got to look for the Sherko Fast Finance, they call it. Briggsy and I have ridden many of the Sherko two strokes. We've run them in shootouts. They won one of our shootouts. Anyway, I can't remember which one. Um, the 450. Yes, they won a 450 shootout with us. They're in our 300 two-stroke shootout. They came second. It's a very good bike. I've had ones in the long term. They're lightweight, they're agile, all that kind of stuff. They're pretty good. I've currently got one. Briggsy's got one, he's got one of your race. He's racing one. He actually raced one at round one. Sherko, you got the Sherko 300 SEF factory. It's a good thing, mate.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's it was um it was a lot of fun on the weekend, and it had the Dunlop AC82s on it as well, which was uh another added bonus. But yeah, yeah, no, it was a great bike, it was reliable. I didn't have any problems with it. Uh, I've got to ride better, if anything. The bike has plenty more left in it, but yeah, uh the tyres also uh yeah, it was a it was a great event, and yeah, can't wait to get into it a bit more.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Matchmate in heaven on with the Dunlop AT82s and the Sherko 300 SEF factory. Actually, we Briggsy and I went down to Victoria in November last year before Supercross, and we tested the 500 and the 300 and the 450 back to back, and Briggsie came away saying that the 300 SEF factory was one of the best bikes he's ever ridden, and he would love to race it. And lo and behold, three four months later, there he here he is racing it. So that's pretty cool. Testament to the bike.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Um and big thanks to Shirk Matt Riley for setting that up with us.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

Yeah, that was cool. So that's uh that's exciting. Now let's get into it. Um, so we'll start before we start talking about the rain out because some of the footage was like you guys needed submarines to get out of there, and I believe it's Tuesday now. I believe they're still trying to get out of there, some of the guys.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

So Yeah, well I actually just spoke to AJ Um just to see how he went getting his truck out, and he said, Oh, they've just left it there, it's still raining, and they're hoping to get it out by the end of the week. They they obviously need a few days to dry. The owner had to his credit, he was a he's a really nice bloke. He was pulling everyone out with his own tractor, and then he went and got a neighbor's tractor to help get people out of the pits, and uh it just swallowed us up that quick. The rain it really did. That Saturday night, Sunday morning. I think we went back to Rome itself in the hotel, and the wit the rain that was calming down, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm glad I'm not in a swag because I think I'm floating away. So it was it was torrential. And then we got out there in the morning and the place was underwater and people were packing up, and it's a pretty crazy scene where you see you know 300 plus or 250 plus riders and families, and all with campers. And another thing we were talking about is there must be like a million dollars of product out there when you look at bikes and campers and cars and and trucks, and all that's just inundated with mud and water, and everyone was so good. You'd you'd see 20 people pushing a van while someone's trying to get out, so everyone helps each other, which was really good to see. And yeah, it was just unlucky. I think everyone was wanting to race the second day. I know that I wasn't looking forward to wet logs, but I still wanted to race. Um, but yeah, that's just what happens. We had the same thing at Dungog, I think, 2023, and it it was the same thing. We got rained out and like 300 mil rain in 24 hours, it's gonna wreck anywhere.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

So yeah, that's that's it. And you can't control the weather, these things just are what they are, and you know, if anything, you know, poor old uh AEC and all the guys that put all the effort into putting it all together, they were given given a bum steer with a uh bomb forecast that was just so far off what I mean, it's pretty standard nowadays, so far off what sounds like it fell. So they uh but yeah, like you said, I did hear that everyone was pitching in. There were guys covered in mud up to their eyeballs pushing two-wheel drive high ace vans out of there, and we saw you know tractors pulling trucks and anyway. And like you said, lot it's you know, because of the nature of our sport, there's you got millions of dollars worth of trucks, camper vans, bikes, all just sitting in a in a paddock that can't go anywhere. It's a kind of a big operation to get make sure everything gets out and gets out in like one piece and no one's breaking vans and breaking newts and bits and pieces. It's mess.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Oh, look, there are some sends, but like I seen Leroy, one of our mates, he uh he's got a Chevy Silverado, I think it is a 2500 and a decent van, and he sent it through this puddle. And I'm like, look, that's a lot of money to just be just sending, and another one with the uh Dodge Rand CRX supercharged V8 was just off his head and just roosting his own caravan, but you know it was entertaining as well. Um but at the end of the day, everyone helped each other, and I know even the ARC truck or AEC trucks still up there, the MA truck, so it's still I think Milner's team's truck's still up there, the Kawasaki truck. So there's still five or six trucks that just they're just a big heavy machine, right? So you can't they just sink whenever they move. I think they'll be coming out maybe Friday, from what I've heard.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Look, it's a good thing we don't go back to back weekends of racing. Imagine that, because I don't think even like fortnights apart, if they're not getting out till Friday, if they had two weeks to get to the next round, that's a lot to ask of a team to go get a truck, drive it back to Victoria, clean, wash, service, fix, turn around and go again on the Wednesday.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Oh, yeah, yeah, I agree, but I think that they also have a contingency plan where they could just take a sprinter and set up some quick shades for another round. But yeah, good point. They'd make it work.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Um, okay, so yeah, that was round two for everyone out there listening. Um now run up round one and two are run on the same weekend, Saturday and Sunday. Uh so yeah, unfortunately, round two was cancelled due to the weather. In case you're wondering why you haven't seen any results, that's why the weather was absolutely disgusting and messy, and there was no way that they could safely run the event, so it was a good call to pull the pin uh and do their best to get everyone out of there and back home and to dry out. So, but we're going to talk about day one. Now, uh Briggsy, Briggsy was racing in the we'll start with Briggsy's story. Briggs was racing in the Vets class and he's on a Sherko 300 and he's got it all set up and he's ready to kind of go with it all. And uh I know you've been training heaps, Briggsy, and you're going fast at the moment. How did you feel? How'd you feel? The tracks were more technical, right, than you might have been anticipating.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Yeah, look, I've obviously I coach a lot of kids and I ride I've been riding a lot of sand to be honest, to help these kids with one saggy and haven't even really ridden the Shirko. I've been riding my personal KDM 350 that um the guys at KDM Australia helped help me with and yeah, I've just been riding that and doing some motocross stuff and kind of have a race for three years, obviously, and then to get back there and sort of get back into a technical proper enduro round straight up. Like in my opinion, it was the best in Juro track I've ridden in a long, long time. Uh just I in saying that too, I was a bit over logs by the end of the day, but in for diversity of like the different terrain you're riding, it started off like we went through this creek bed and wound in and out the creek bed up and down. There's the odd log in there, and then you come out of that, and then you kind of obviously it was dry the first round, but that was kind of moist in there, and then we got out of that into some harder pack with like bull dust on top with some logs just winding through some nice flat terrain, and there would have been five or six logs, and then you come out of that, and you get a short section where you you sort of third fourth pretty hard on a on the 300 through some nice big grassy corners, then straight back into like an uphill hard clay base kind of zigzagging through logs terrain, up on top of that hill, back onto some grass track, and then back down, and then you kind of do a zigzag, and then just drop straight into a nearly a kilometre of creek bed, just full of like river rocks.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Um, then from there it's straight up out of there, back up over the hill, back and the same terrain all the way back with just logs and rocks, and even traversing along one part of the track. It was only two meters wide, and on the right was a good three meter drop. And so you had to come in, really be patient to get in there, and then off you go. So it was such a good technical track, uh, which is why I really struggled. And the the top guys uh in even in Vets and that, John Day and and Welshie, one of my mates, and uh Ron Pumper and that, these guys they killed it, they all rode so well, and credit to them, they were they were on it. So but the biggest thing for me too, I took three guys away who were it was their very first race ever. Oh wow. Um yeah, so one of my a couple of my good mates, Steve, um, Richard and and Daniel, and they had a ball, they they loved it, everything about it. They and Steve's a massive fan of motocross, he doesn't ride a lot of enduro, and he came away with a smile on his face and just cool that they can't wait for the next one. So I for me too, I'm just stoked to be introducing more riders into our sport, it's really cool, and for them to go to their first race and have such a rad time was awesome.

SPEAKER_03 11:23

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Sounds like it was probably a a good round for them to be at because it wasn't just sprints or motocross in the bush, it was a genuine enduro, which is exciting to kind of experience.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

It was sprint format, but yeah, it was it wasn't as fast as normal, it was a lot more technical, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

Um okay, so before we get into the pro classes and what you were able to see of that, um how are you how you how do you what was the vets class like? Who was fast in the vets class for any of the vets out there listening? And and can you you I think you were fifth uh after round one in the vets class? Can you go top three? Can you challenge for that top spot?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Oh look, I'm gonna try. Uh John Day, he's just entered the Vets class this year, and I think he was around a 20-30 outright in the um pro class last year, so obviously a very talented rider. Um and he rode really, really well. He was a minute and a half in front of me, most tests, and um I didn't ride my best, but that's on me, not him. He he was flying. So uh Welshie, my mate Dan, he he was pretty quick in the best class. He exceeded what I thought he was gonna do, which he rode really well too. Um Cookie was really good. I mean, they're all good riders. You go there and half of them have racist stuff for 10, 15, 20 years. So they're just so uh crafty, they're very good at the technical stuff. I kind of shine more in like the Mendurans and the Sandy Motocross stuff where I'm not afraid to go fast over big warps and stuff. Whereas these guys are just so good in the the rocky technical logs, all that sort of stuff. So that's something I've got to work on. But yeah, it was awesome. I just went there for the fun, really. And I mean, you always want more, but I also want to cover the event for for the magazine like we do, and yeah, try and get get it out there how good these events are and get more people to actually go.

SPEAKER_03 13:25

Yep, yep, that'll be that's the key. We want as many people there as we can, even if they're just spectating. Um, all right, so did you get a good look at the pro classes? Obviously, we saw the results, we saw some social media, we saw bits and pieces, and uh Will Rupert was um for lying by the looks of things. Um, what was who's in our predictions before the season, we had Josh Green on the podcast telling us who he thinks is gonna go fast and who he thinks is gonna win. And I thought he just had his Yamaha hat on when he was saying it's gonna be Will Rupert, you watch how fast he's gonna be, and it'll be well to Josh's credit, he didn't kind of say that.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

He just said that he seen Will and it was impressive. Yeah, but he he said it could be either Will, Jay, or Corey, but he's not sure on what order, especially at what what round, you know. And he was pretty much spot on. Um, I said it would be kind of Will and Corey and Jay nipping at their heels, and I got that wrong. Jay really shone out. But yeah, Will come into the first test and he was flying, he put 17 seconds on the boys. Yeah, um, I was watching watch, I watched everys because where our track was was right next to theirs as well. So I got to see him take off and come in and all that sort of stuff. Um Corey sprint one just looked a little uncomfortable and just was overriding, in my opinion. Yeah, he had a crash on a log just in front of us. Um only just dropped it, but I mean that's five to seven seconds straight up there, and then he had another one on that same sprint. And I think being round one, everyone just gets they put in all the hard work, like I because I interviewed Corey in that after, and they and even Corey said that he just got ahead of himself, he wanted to show everyone where he was at and try and go fast, and just himself overrode it, uh which I did in one of my sprints as well. And then it's so easy to do on these technical tracks when you've got the logs and all that, you just if there's so much time to be made, but there's way more to be lost. So for me, Will come out swinging. He is a very good technical rider, he's got that experience from Europe, he's very good on the up down, point and shoot, rocky, just all that sort of stuff. Um, I think the other rounds might close up a little bit where they are, a bit more open and fast. I think Jai will come into his own a bit more, and Corey as well. Um, but for these technical rounds, Will Will had the upper hand out of uh round one from the first test to the last, he was right there.

SPEAKER_03 15:57

Yeah, yeah, he was going fast. Uh, I think the the gap at the end of the day was about uh total time was about what am I looking at here?

SPEAKER_00 16:04

40, probably 47 seconds on Joe. Yeah, correct.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

And then a minute minute 30 on quarry, so which is good, which is impressive, and that's more than we've seen sometimes, I guess, in the past. But um, hey, it's round one, and also no one remembers the distances, it's just two one, and this is one round, and we're gonna get come to rounds three and four in no time. And who cares how much someone won in the first round? It doesn't no one takes a note of the time, so yeah, it'll be fun to see them going to rounds three and four. Um, so Rupert was fast, he he looked fast, looked in control. We we talked to Jess Gardner yesterday. You guys are gonna hear that podcast later this week, but um Jess talked about the track being technical, and she talked about the riders that were able to stand out with the riders that ride that wet, slippery technical stuff more, or that have had more experience in it. And she mentioned you know, Will's experience racing overseas for three years, um, is a massive benefit and uh to him. Was there anyone else in the top 10 or 20 or any of the pros that stood out to you as like okay, I can see why they're doing well because these conditions suited them?

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Um well, just going on Joey and Corey, uh from they both at least once they got into the second and third sprints and come around a little bit, they did bridge the gap a little bit. Yeah, and Corey won the last sprint of the day.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Uh so that that that's got to show that you know he can go that speed when he has to.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

And he's got it in there, he's just gotta be a bit smarter and and just relax relax a little at the first test. But um Kuba Shido rode really well, Kogan Locke. Um Deegan Graham actually surprised me. He was the first Yamaha kid to claim contingency. He got second overall in E1, which was really cool.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

So he's he's a privateer who rode his heart out. He trains with Will Dennon a lot, uh, very technical kid. He was the only one sort of at the start of the day hitting a big braking bump and jumping a log.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Yeah, so Hamie caught that on camera, and I was speaking to Hammy, and he said, Oh, there was easy three, three, maybe four seconds in that because it was a fairly fast part of the track where he would come in and just wheelie and then drop the front in into this braking bump, jump the log where the other boys were breaking right into it and popping over the log slow and then going.

SPEAKER_02 18:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Um, so he was really impressive. Uh Ryan um Haywood, he was really, really impressive. A lot of these guys you haven't kind of heard of, they're younger as well. But mate, they all fly when you get up there and watch, it's pretty impressive. But the biggest thing for me is when you start looking at the individual times, uh, how far out Will is in front.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

I know, yes. I'm just looking at individual times now too, and it's insane. I mean, you look at Coop won the um 250 class in the E1 class, but yeah, you know, his total time was still what's he like three nearly three he's over three minutes out from um from where Will was in the yeah, and 30 seconds off uh per test is a lot to get back.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Um Max Purvis actually had a pretty decent showing for his first or second really uh AEC ever. Um he's jumped on the shot down hard team with AJ Roberts as a the manager, and he's we obviously know Max can go fast. He just beat Kyle Webster in New Zealand in the motocross series. So I I expect him to be one to watch. I mean, he's already got the speed, he just needs to harness that in the bush now.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

So that will come, and I think he'll be one to watch in the future for sure. Especially, I think, too, like he's doing Hadda this year, from what I've heard. Okay, he's gonna be blow blazing fast down there, like you know, New Zealander, motocrosser in the sand, he'll be one to watch. I I can see him prologue in first, it's just whether he can hold that for four hours, yeah, will be the big key. Yeah, but there'll be rounds like that too where I think he'll be he'll probably be in front in the E1 class, you know.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

Um well let's stay in the E1 class then. Anyone else? You you got like you said, you mentioned Ray Ryan Howard, uh Hayward was pretty impressive, uh, and he surprised a lot of people. There's a kind of a few old dogs in there that were getting beaten by the young guys, Jeremy Carpenter, Stefan Grandquist. I mean, you'd almost put Fraser Higlitz on an old dog at all. He's been around the traps racing professionally for a while. Um, but yeah, they they were all beaten and some kind of convincingly by these three young guys.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

And look, yeah, look, there's not much in it, and certain tracks are gonna suit certain riders more than others, obviously. Uh I've seen Jeremy go through through the day, um, I've seen Stefan go through, and man, you can't see any difference when you're watching them versus say Coop. But then when you spread that maybe one or two kilometres an hour over the 15 or 13 minute test, it's it's not much per corner. It's probably 0.2 per corner over 200 corners or logs and 20 logs. Um, and they're all right there. So I think there will be certain rounds that suit certain riders. Uh like Stefan's an amazing rider himself, so he he's not someone who I could see come out and win a round, like for sure.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Um, but yeah, for me, Deegan was probably the standout in the E1 class. Cooper, I expect him to be there and winning. Um, Ryan Haywood as well. Uh, haven't seen much of Ryan, but he rode really well. Max Purvis, he'll be I think he's just going to improve every round. And then Jeremy, Fraser, Stefan, um, all them guys, they'll they'll continue to try and bridge that gap as well.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Yeah, and uh hats off to Deegan. He was actually fastest in um uh the second half of day one, so he actually topped E2 with a time of thirteen fifty two. So yeah, he was going quick. Alright, let's talk. When we move up to E2 then, Corey McMahon, he was going fast. He had a what's that, a four, three and a half minute?

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Corey's E3.

SPEAKER_03 22:12

Sorry, E3. Three and a half minute gap on uh Max midwinter. Um and then Brock grab him on the uh on the on the Stark. Yeah, I saw two bikes. Did he have two bikes or was he able to do the whole thing on one bike?

SPEAKER_00 22:27

No, no, I every rider's allowed to uh scrutinear two bikes as a spare.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Um so I think he had the two for that, but I only seen him on the one through the day. And that's they're 13 to 15 minute tests, they do that pretty easy. You're not in a high horsepower range, you want them smooth uh and linear, especially with that the Stark like they I'd actually love to just ride one of the tests on one because I think it'd be pretty awesome, especially with the handbrake. Um but yeah, the the traction that you get out of them starks, as I know because I've had one, they're pretty awesome. So I could see them being pretty competitive, and honestly, like for Brock to get a a third in class on that is is really cool.

SPEAKER_03 23:10

So yeah, it's impressive. Um, yeah. Is that Max Midwinter? I don't know. I've never met Max. Uh I'd be good to meet him and and get to know him. Have you did have you met him before that round? I haven't.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

No, I haven't. And and so I've got to apologize. I did get some podium interviews, but by the time the rain, because we had a bit of rain that afternoon while the last sprint was going on, it started bucketing down uh halfway through the pro sprint. Our sprint probably just finished as it was just hitting.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

And then by that time, the guys you want to get interviews with have already sort of they've they've showered their dress, and then they want to go and start walking their tests ready for the next day.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Uh, which I understand. Uh but I missed a few of them guys for um podium interviews and speeches, so it'll be cool to get a lot of them guys next round and hopefully meet them. Um but yeah, I haven't seen much of Max to be honest, but some very very competitive times for sure. Like you know, six in the first test, and I I don't know what he where he went from there. Um tenth in the second, but so yeah, he's to be top ten in that you know, that class is you you're moving.

SPEAKER_03 24:25

Yeah, definitely. And you know, in E3 he's consistently and by fair gap, the oh a little bit of a gap, the s the second place rider. So we'll see how he goes throughout a whole season. Uh but I mean that that's that's that's the class. If you if you would you argue if you're trophy hunting, uh E3 is the way to go. I mean Corey is so far he's far out in front of Fairway, and then you kind of go back through uh the other competitors and you know Max is going quick and Brock's going quick, but they're not on you know ininverted commas factory teams, whether or not you'd call it.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Yeah, well see, like I look at someone like Stefan um who's on a 250, yeah. It may benefit him more on a 500 in that class. Because like especially if Yamaha made a 500 to get the contingency right. So that would be a bonus for someone like Stefan, who at least is paying his way to race then as well if they did do the 500 class.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Um, and if someone like Yama uh KDM opens up a contingency, I think you'll see a lot more people jump to that class. Yeah, that's a good uh yeah, which I think would benefit. Like Max was tenth overall, and then from Max to Brock, uh there's a two-minute split there with probably seven or eight riders in there. So that's set seven or eight riders that could potentially go to that class and and pick up a podium and at least get five hundred or a thousand bucks if KDM were to or someone were were to do that, or Sherko even beta.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Um so yeah, I think that would be a good option. I'd love to see more manufacturers do that program where they give you a contingency and not just in off-roads but in motocross as well, and support more of the riders because it is a really cool thing. Um and it even if they still get their bike on the podium, right? So they still get the publicity and all that. But yeah, I think that would be a better class for a lot of riders to to look at jumping into if they want to get that podium spot.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

Yeah, because there's eight in the e eight and e3. What do we got? We've got 17 in e1 and 21 in e2. So if you're looking for if uh for Yamaha made a big bike for contingency, that's probably your best chance. Um all right, let's go into E1. Um, we've just talked already about Will and how far out and front. So E2. We've done it. I'm getting these all around the wrong way. Uh Will Rupert, he was fast. Obviously, we've talked about that. We we also chatted with Will last year and we got to talk about Europe stuff. And as soon as it's um I saw how technical it was, I was thinking, oh, this will suit Will because of everything he taught told us about when he was racing in Europe. So um Jai, we know Jai's fast. I think that'll be fun watching those two battle in that class throughout the season.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Um for me, Jai was the what probably the most underrated for the day, to be honest. Like we kind of knew Will would come in hot. I was thinking Corey would be battling with Will a little bit, but then Jay just rose. Um he just man, that kid is so smooth, he is such a good little rider. Yeah, I can't wait to see how he goes and if he can bridge that gap to Will. Because as much like I I like all these guys, I don't care who wins, I just want to see a good battle. Um, and I really hope that they can all battle each other every round. And I think they enjoy battling with each other. It's not like they're rubbing elbows on the track, they're just trying to beat each other's times, but it's better for them to be pushing each other, and they'd much prefer that as well, personally, from what I've what they've told me. So, yeah, hopefully they can all all get back in the mix and at least have a three-rider battle for the for the series.

SPEAKER_03 28:00

For sure, because you look at the times too in the last two tests. Um Driver's only four and five seconds off uh Will. So he's going fast. It's gonna be close, I reckon, between those guys by the end of the season. Yeah, yeah. Um probably the surprise packet for me was uh Kogan Locke. We know he's young and he's kind of jumping up into that class. Um and he also does some of the hard injuries stuff too. Um, but man, third in E2 is pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Yeah, very impressive. And and I don't know Kogan that well. Like I said, I haven't been uh racing for a few years now, so I don't know a lot of these younger guys coming up, which is it'll come. I'll I'll definitely try and meet him in the next few rounds. Uh, but yeah, he he killed it. Uh looking at his times and all that. He was he rode really well, so definitely something to someone to keep an eye on, and I can't wait to to see how he goes.

SPEAKER_03 28:57

Yeah, yeah, he'll be he's fast for for his age, and especially I think, man, we'll have to get him on the podcast and talk to him, but I think this is his first year for full season in the pro classes, E1, E2, E3. Um yeah, so that's I think that's a really commendable uh position to be in there, third in class. Uh if I go a little bit further down, um Jake Henderson, yeah, who's next. Yeah, he was he looked fast. Do you know Jake?

SPEAKER_00 29:24

No, I don't know Jake. Um, and I don't know Will McKinsey either. Um, but I do know Ruben Chadwick and pretty pretty cool to see Ruben there actually. But yeah, Jake obviously got a little bit of work to do, but he's same with Will. Uh but honestly that like to be top five in that class and top 20 overalls is a massive achievement straight up. So they'll all improve. And like I said, some tracks are going to suit others more, uh, just with terrain and difficulty and how technical they are. So I I wouldn't be surprised if we see someone like Jake and Will come out at a different round and do really well and get close to that podium and and try and knock Kogan off.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

Yeah. Um let's talk about Ruben. I only thought he went slow up really steep hills, but clearly he can ride too. I'm just joking. I have ridden with him at a beetle launch about two or three years ago, and we were in a creek bed section and we were playing around, and he gave me his hard enduro bike, and he's like, I'm like, it feels a bit stiff for what I would have thought hard enduro suspensions would feel like. And he's like, nah, just go flying into that creek as fast as you can and hang on. And I'm like, Oh, I don't know about that. So I kind of crawled in and tiptoed through, and he's like waving at me to come over, and I'm like, no, no, no, fast. And I'm like, that this is a creek bed, this is you can't go fast through it. He said, No, that's what it's designed for. And I flew I went as fast as I could at a gumby speed into the creek bed, and I was blown away at how this strange suspension set up for a guy racing hard enduro could hit a creek bed in at the same speed you'd hit it at in an AEC. But the suspension also works in hard and duro, so we know he's he's fast. He has a trials background, so it's not like he's a full motocross head that switched to enduro and then managed to work out the the hard enduro thing. He has a trials background, so I think No, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

I think looking at that, he he would have been rubbing his hands together with all the logs, right?

SPEAKER_03 31:14

Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yeah, but then when you look at how fast some of our tests are, um, and Will said that he walked it and it rode a lot slower than what he thought it might have. Yeah, but even still the speed that Will and that ride at and they're just so used to, and what Ruben's used to riding at being a hard injurer guy is such a big contrast. For him to get six in that class is still really impressive to me.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

Yeah, totally agree. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

I mean, uh technically we know he's sound and he can always build speed, so that's something that he he will improve on in the future for sure.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Yep, yep, it's pretty bloody good for a hard injury rider to end up where he was. He was 15th outright at an at a race like that. So I think you'd find it, you'd find I'd you wouldn't find many of the guys above him that just went and raced one of the hard enduro rounds in the top you know 10 of a hard enduro with some of the stuff we see them drag and their bikes up in bits and pieces. So it's good on him. We'd like to see more of the hard enduro guys have a go at the traditional enduro and the other way around. I'd love to see some traditional enduro guys just throw themselves in the hard enduro and just see how they compare.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Um look at nipping at his heels was um Oliver Paterno. So I I haven't met Oliver and Thomas Henry wasn't far behind him. I haven't met Thomas either, but I do know Harry Teed pretty well, so yeah, yeah. Um that rounds out sort of and Hayden, Hayden Olsen, they they round it, round out the top ten in that class. Um there's a little bit of a gap then from 10th to 11th, but mate, that that class is so competitive. It is, yeah. E2 class, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:52

Yeah. Um, okay, EJ, because you were racing, so you couldn't see the other juniors, unfortunately. But EJ, I think you got to see um Mason Phillips, he was going fast. He's he's he had about a um what's that like a minute and 20 total time over Marcus Noland. Um did he look was he going quick for a junior? Did he kind of look like he was just fitting in with the times of the pro classes?

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Um yes and no. I mean, when you you look at what Will's best time was a 1322 and the fastest EJ was a 1446. Yeah, that's a lot of time. You don't notice it when they come past, but I think there's there is such a difference there. But remember these guys they're only just stepping out of juniors, a lot of them. So they are riding really, really well. Like Marcus Nolan, I've ridden with him at Ranch a couple of times because he's a local guy from down here, and he can ride a bike, like he is fast. So I I think Marcus will come a long way. Um, Mason also, same thing. Uh Mason Phillips. So yeah, they're both killing it. I can't wait to see how they go. Um it'll be interesting, you know. It's gonna be it. This is the class to watch, really, because this is the future of our sport, so yeah, yeah. Moving forward, like I'd like to see them do really well. Bo Bo also done really well, Oscar, Bjorn, and Kai. So Kai actually won the first sprint, so you know that that's how close this class is.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

Yeah, wow. Um, okay. Anyone else from round one that you'd like to the girls? We spoke to Jess yesterday, so people are gonna hear about it later on uh in the week. We talked to her about a whole bunch of stuff that we briefly talk about this round. She was just Jess Gardner, she's just going fast and just killing everyone. Um, and it suited her. She said that. She said because of her time in Europe, she liked that technical stuff. Um, but she was clear. I mean, Maddie Simpson looked, you know, she we know she's fast, was um just clearly on top in the women.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

Yeah, look, Jess loves the technical stuff. Um, I think had you had half the amount of logs there, Maddie would have come back in times towards Jess for sure, being it especially like if you had to put them on a motocross track, I think Jess would happily admit that Maddie is a lot quicker than her. Uh but when you get into this enduro technical riding where you've got to be smooth and calculated, Jess really shines. She is a technical rider and she knows how to ride this stuff really, really well. Yeah, uh, I think that you'll see some rounds suit Maddie more. Um, but yeah, it's just one of them things like Emily got third, and then um Emmy Rupert, Will's sister, she was she rounded out the fourth with uh Maddie Healy in fifth. So you know, um great to see all these girls up there, but at the moment Jess was a fair way out in front just with these tests. Uh I think Maddie can bridge the gap on the faster tracks, and I think Emily will be a bit closer too on the faster gaps.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

I I haven't seen a lot of Emmy. Um I seen uh she I rode with her a couple of times at Josh's uh 10 years ago when she was only young, 15, 14. So but since then I just haven't um had a lot of time to know how Emmy rides. But yeah, and we know Maddie Healy will be really quick too. It's some sandy kind of open rounds too.

SPEAKER_03 36:19

So yeah, and I think um like if you look at the times, Jess had almost a five-minute lead by the end of the day on route at round one. However, this in the sprints, Maddie started to close the gap as the sprints went on, and you know, you had some gaps of 12 seconds at the in the fifth test, you had um, you know, it kind of got a bit narrower towards the end as opposed to how it started.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

And I think that's and that might be a bit of both, like Jess just settling in for the day and then Maddie figuring it out a bit more.

SPEAKER_03 36:48

So yeah, and that's because you know Jess is gonna come into this with all the experience in the world, know exactly how fast she needs to go, where her pace needs to be, where she needs to push it. Uh, so it's good to see maybe that Maddie was like, okay, now I'm settling in more, I can um start to push more and try and close that gap.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Um because the sense of Oh, look, I yeah, I think Maddie's ceiling is greater than Jess's in a sense of Maddie's got a lot more speed in an open track. Um, but I think Jess is just so crafty and experienced that she just it this track really played into her favour.

SPEAKER_02 37:20

Yeah, agree.

SPEAKER_00 37:21

So yeah, Maddie Maddie will get there. Uh it's just one of them things, it's time on the bike and time in that terrain, you know. So Maddie also races a Pro MX all year.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

And and she's come out and and led laps there against Charlie Cannon. So she's shown that she's got some decent speed about her. Yeah. Uh she just has to try and harness that in the bush.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

Yep, and Jess is in her 16th year of racing professionally, and you can't beat that kind of experience. So uh really impressive. Yeah, she can't she can't expect to come out and glitch her in round one, I guess. Full credit to Jess.

SPEAKER_00 37:52

Um round and out the girls was Finlay, Nina, and Shaylin. So really cool to see eight girls in the class. Hopefully, we can get 15-20 in the next few rounds. Uh I know Roma's a long way away, but yeah, it'll be good to see how this class folds, unfolds for the throughout the year.

SPEAKER_03 38:08

Do you know what Roma's gonna be? Uh what Roma, do you know what the next round is gonna be in regards to terrain?

SPEAKER_00 38:14

Dungog, uh, which is kind of like it's grassy, can be slippery if it's wet. Uh it's technical too. It's got some creek sections and all that, but it's a two-day in hero, so it's really a battle of endurance. Um, whether you can still hold your sprint times or test times at the end of the day, and then not make silly mistakes on your time card, which is again gonna play into Jess's favour this round, I think. Um, just being so used to that format, she's done it a lot of times, she doesn't make mistakes with a time card. She she is technically a good rider, and Dungog can be very technical because it is slippery. Um but it'll be interesting to see. I think that'll go for the same for every class. I think you know, Jay and Corey got a bit of work to do with Will this next round again.

SPEAKER_02 39:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

Uh, but it'd be cool to see Jay and Corey both lead off, uh Jay and Will, sorry, both lead um off the Enduro in a month's time.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

Yeah, yeah. And you'll be at the next round, obviously, Brixy again racing and covering it for ADB. So guys, make sure if you're um yeah, if you if you know, if you see Briggsie in the pits, make sure you go up and say hello to him. And especially for all everyone, all the competitors that wind up on the podium, just um if we see Briggsie looking for you, just wave him over because we want to talk to you and just do as much as we can to get the sport and you guys out there on our social channels and in our print product and on our website and on our YouTube channel, everything else. So just make sure you come up and say hello to Briggsy if you see him there, and especially if you land on the podium because we just want to talk to you.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Uh yeah, I think the weather thrill is better in the work of this one a little bit, but yeah, for sure for sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

Uh all right, Dungog, we're off to Dungog next. It's gonna be an enduro, it's gonna be fun. We'll be watching again uh for in with to see if anyone can close the gap up to Will and probably Jess. Uh and yeah, Briggsy will be there as well. So, mate, we'll catch up with you to cover off uh rounds three and four in Dungog. Obviously, that's a while away. That's April 11, 12, got a month to go. Um, so yep, we'll catch up with you then after see how it goes and talk about the Enduro format if anyone's caught up to Will and uh yeah, if anyone else is gonna catch up to Jess.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

Yeah, definitely um look forward to it. Also, big shout out to all the juniors and the families there that support the series as well. There's a lot of them there, um, from girls to boys to to all them. And big shout out to all the vets and the the clubmen and sportsmen and masters. So they all, yeah, it was really good racing through all the classes throughout the day. And then an even bigger shout out to Osin Juro uh and all the sponsors, Yamaha especially, they fund this series. It was it was a great event, unfortunately, cut short by the rain. But even the property owners, too. Thanks for opening up your property and all the volunteers for everyone that comes and puts in time. These events, we wouldn't have a series without you guys, so really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 41:08

Yep, and it's one of the top three series in the world, we reckon. So it's they do an awesome job. Yamaha, great at it's great at supporting it, and also MX Store, MX Store support the series too significantly.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

Yeah, they do, yeah. Big thanks to them.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

Yeah, big thanks to all those guys. It's good fun. We'll we'll catch Briggsy after uh Dungogs round three and four. Hopefully, we don't get any rain and we have a pretty cool two days of racing. It's gonna be in Enduro with the time cards, that'll be fun. And yeah, we'll catch up with Briggsie after April 11, 12.

SPEAKER_00 41:34

Yeah, what one thing I want to touch on quickly is it's great to see uh Daniel's team has a truck now, which is another truck in the paddock with a factory kind of look, and yeah, and the Empire Kaasaki one too for for sending a truck up there. It's great to see these big factory kind of teams back. Um not what they used to be, like where we had one for Gasgas, Husky, and KDM that were funded by the Austrians, but it's good to see that Daniel's got a truck now and he's trying to go that way, and Jess is trying to go that way, and these teams are trying to grow in our sport. So it's great to see, and hopefully it can continue.

SPEAKER_03 42:12

Agreed, mate. Agreed. All right, we'll we'll catch everyone in a month's time.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

Yes, sounds good. Thanks, mate. See you then. Bye.