BATHURST brothers Ben and Broc Grabham have made an impressive start to the 2018 Australian Off-Road Championships, with both enjoying podiums in the opening rounds at Gympie.
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The siblings are no strangers to the annual series, but 2018 sees Ben Grabham contesting the veterans class for riders aged 35 and over for the first time in his career.
He last raced in the AORC in 2016 when finishing third outright in the E2 Class, but last weekend in Queensland he sent a message to his veteran rivals that he will be a man to watch.
Ben Grabham rode his Beta to victory in both rounds one and two, impressing on the free-flowing grass tracks and a tighter technical course with rocky terrain.
He won round one’s sprint race by more than two minutes and backed that up in Sunday’s sprint to be over three minutes clear of his nearest rival. He won every lap across the two days.
That gave him a six-point lead after the opening rounds over Richard Chibnall.
“It has been a long time since I have raced one of these events so I was eager to get into it and see how I could go,” he told mcnews.com.au “To be honest I am having so much fun at the moment, I get to ride a bike that I have so much enjoyment riding.”
Broc Grabham is racing in the E3 class and sits second outright after the two rounds in Gympie.
He placed fourth on day one and improved for a third placing in the following day’s sprint round. It gave him 38 points, with Daniel Milner (50) leading the way.
The next round is at Hedley on May 5-6.