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Australian Four Day Enduro, Coffs Harbour AUSTRALIA 4-9th July 2007
Merriman's 2007 A4DE campaign got off to a good start on Day 1 as he led the outright classification at the end of the first day ahead of International guest, British David Knight and Local Champion, AJ Roberts.
Merriman's bike arrived from Italy on the Monday prior to the race with one day to set it up he realized that his suspension was not suited to the conditions. Set on the softest setting, Merrimans forks did not offer too much give in the first two tests of the day with the cold temperatures, where he lost time to his rivals.
On Day Two, he crashed in the first Enduro test, loosing 17 seconds to Knight and a repeat on Day three saw him loose another 15 seconds to the UK Champion. At the end of three days he was 30 seconds adrift of Knight for the outright lead in the A4DE, despite winning back a lot of lost time in the following enduro tests as the temperatures warmed.
Sunny weather greeted the riders on Day 4, which looked to be a great day for the final motocross. However by lunchtime dark clouds threatened the sky and rainclouds loomed. The 450cc heat was scheduled for the third last race of the day.
The 125cc, 250cc 2 stroke and 250 four stroke heats were raced in the dry, where Hollis, Kearney and Hutton posted the fastest times of the day (up to 50 seconds faster than race leader David Knight).
At the commencement of the 450cc heat, the heavens opened up and the riders battled with heavy downpours and a very slippery wet track. AJ Roberts led from the start followed closely by David Knight.
Merriman got a bad start and crashed on the first lap and was in 15th position before the first lap cold be completed. Back on the gas, Merriman passed several riders in the sloppy conditions but posted a shocking final moto time to drop to third place in the outright standings after the 4 days finished.
Second place outright went to Chris Hollis was more than 70 seconds faster than Merriman in the final moto as Merriman struggled in the wet conditions in his 450cc moto, whilst Hollis enjoyed a fast, dry run in the 250cc 4 stroke heat.
Despite not capturing the outright win he was hoping for, Merriman proved the new Aprilia 450RXV certainly is the fastest bike in the 450cc class winning ahead of Current Australian Champion, AJ Roberts on a Honda CRF450.
- - By Lexy Thorogood
