Geoff Battle

March 19, 2024 by Geoff Battle

After a tough couple of years where the SA Off Road Championship (SAORC) has struggled to keep pace with the rest of the sport of motorcycling here in South Australia, with host clubs struggling to find venues big enough to suitably host the growth of the sport, 2024 is seeing a much needed resurgence, with an injection of new faces stepping up to ensure the discipline of Enduro doesn’t get left behind.

In conjunction with the MSA Office, the charge for SAORC is now being led by the Throup brothers, Sean and Tristan, and they have landed very much on the front foot and are already breaking through barriers to ensure the Championship not only survives but starts to grow and get better and more viable as each season goes by.

So far they have been talking to a number of Clubs and land owners, both old and new, about a return to the proven SAORC formula, used for so many years of a rotating Championship, so Clubs aren’t expected to run rounds each year, so their members don’t burn out, and also to give their land owners and their properties time to recover after their use, which would ensure their use for many years to come.

The brothers have also been talking to potential sponsors, again, both old and new, to, not only support the Championship, but also the organising clubs to assist with the costs associated with running these events. Top this, they have a fantastic sponsorship package, that can be made available for any potential sponsors who may be keen to come onboard.

Of course, they can’t get it all done by themselves, so if you are keen to jump on the ‘Throup Train’, hit the lads up by email and let them know what you can offer!

SO – to 2024! 2024 sees the 2024 Championship jump from four (4) rounds in 2023, to a confirmed six (6) rounds in 2024, with the possibility of an extra two (2) rounds still to be confirmed, with 2 rounds also hosting rounds of the 2024 Australian Off Road Championship (AORC).

At present the 2024 SAORC calendar has shaped up like this:

Round 1	Saturday May 11	Black Hill	Velocette MCC	Sprint
Round 2	Sunday May 12	Black Hill	Velocette MCC	Sprint

Round 3	Saturday August 24	Kingston SE	Green Triangle	TBC	*AORC
Round 4	Sunday August 25	Kingston SE	Green Triangle	TBC	*AORC

Round 5	Saturday September 21	ACUSA Park	Velocette MCC	Sprint
Round 6	Sunday September 22	ACUSA Park	Velocette MCC	Sprint

There is also the possibility of an extra 2 rounds being added – with the weekend of June 22 & 23 slated as the preferred date – so 2 weeks after Finke and 2 weeks before Hattah – and note the change of this date from the original date released last December, which was in July.

SAORC is, at present, the second largest Championship series on the Motorcycling SA calendar, so the need for a united crew putting together an exciting Championship for all who enter is an absolute must.

November 6, 2023 by Geoff Battle

Motorcycling South Australia is looking for dedicated individuals who share a passion for Off Road Racing in South Australia to fill the rewarding role of the SA Off Road Sports Manager for 2024 onward and be a key part of South Australia’s premier Off Road Series.

As many of you are aware, 2023 was a particularly challenging year for the South Australian Off Road Racing due to the vacant Sports Manager Position.

The Sports manager role is the driving force in the development of the sport, including acting as the leading role to coordinate with clubs in planning the SAORC Championship, developing sponsor partnership opportunities and being a key facilitator in growing Off Road Racing in South Australia.

If this extremely rewarding position sounds like you, or if you have any questions regarding this opportunity, please don’t hesitate to contact the MSA Office Coordinator, Steven Matthews at operations@motorcyclingsa.org.au or call the office on (08) 8332 9000.

**Expressions of interest for the SA Off Road Sports Manager role close on 30th of November 2023 so get yours in ASAP**

We look forward to hearing from you.

September 7, 2023 by Geoff Battle

See the race timing results – HERE.

Final Points Results are now available below for SAORC Rnd 2 & 3 – Keyneton Sprints & Cross Country

SENIORS

PRO – PRO OPEN

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
50	William Price	25	22	47	1
92	Cooper Shiedow	20	25	45	2
11	Sean Throup	22	20	42	3
41A	Luke Bunnik	18	18	36	4
14	Jayden Rudd	16	16	32	5

EO – Expert Open

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
84	Max Midwinter	25	25	50	1
23	Max Price	22	22	44	2
28	Tristan Throup	20	18	38	3
19	Lachlan Pattullo	16	20	36	4
22	Chad Sparrow	18	14	32	5
470A	Cooper Turlan	15	16	31	6
175	Adam Wright	14	15	29	7
37	Oliver Pitchford	DNF	13	13	8
495	Harrison Baker	DNF

WOM – Open Women

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
728	Chloe Barton	22	25	47	1
729	Emma Haylock	25	22	47	2
77	Meg Pitchford	20	20	40	3
727	Naomi Findlay	18	18	36	4

C1 – Clubman

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
117	Jet Brien	25	25	50	1
132	Thomas Mosey	22	22	44	2
191	Henry Berkin	20	18	38	3
165	Clayton Fechner	18	16	34	4
116	James Waldhuter	12	20	32	5
155	Ned O’Hara	16	15	31	6
143	Lachlan Baumann	13	14	27	7
150	Sam Walter	14	13	27	8
168	Jason Hill	9	12	21	9
188	Hugh Crawford	8	11	19	10
1555	Rhys Witty	7	10	17	11
414	Will Deppeler	15		15	12
154	Jake Humphreys	11		11	13
166	Nicholas Schulz	10		10	14
199	Blake Noll		9	9	15
151	Hayden Cook		8	8	16
138	Jack McLean	DNF	DNS
182	Aaron Garbett	DNF

C2- Clubman 2

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
270	Todd Muster	25	25	50	1
275	Thomas Winter	22	20	42	2
208	Shane Bentley	20	22	42	3
216	Simon Haydon	16	14	30	4
325	Matthew Bunnik	22		22	5
298	Thomas Horn		18	18	6
212	Clint Voight	18		18	7
250	Lee Kessner		16	16	8
217	William Moore	DNS	15	15	9
287	Jordan Starick	DNF	13	13	10
297	Thomas Pearson	DNF

C3 – Clubman 3

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
397	Royden Harrold	25	25	50	1
342	Daniel Fraser	20	22	42	2
393	Brett Krieg	18	15	33	3
398	Louis Kerin	14	16	30	4
394	Joshua MacKenzie	15	14	29	5
313	Alex Heidenreich		20	20	6
360	Alexander Cowan		18	18	7
330	Calvin Moss	16		16	8
401	Lindsay Cox	13		13	9
340	Luke Ziegeler	DNF
4005	Timothy Alcock	DNF

VETS – Veterans

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
804	Rowan Pumpa	25	25	50	1
807	Matthew Boyle	22	20	42	2
639	Alex McGorman	18	18	36	3
895	Matt Harkness		22	22	4
888	Matt Curyer	20		20	5
849	Daniel Garbett	16		16	6
818	Simon Brombal	DNF			7

MAS – Masters

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
923	Leigh Bentley	25	25	50	1
929	Anthony Greene	22	22	44	2
975	Michael Widdison	20	20	40	3
909	Owen Richards	18	18	36	4
991	Simon Twartz	15	16	31	5
399	Michael Kerin	16	14	30	6
836	Shane Schutz	13	15	28	7
937	Russell Horn	12	13	25	8
973	Daniel Allomes	14		14	9

Juniors

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
513	Davey Gear	25	25	50	1
251A	Will McInnes	22	22	44	2
721	Ethan Alderton	20	18	38	3
234	Archer Colwill	18	20	38	4
65	Jye Schutz	16	14	30	5
75A	Billy Donaldson	15	15	30	6
789	Charles Ingham	12	16	28	7
442	Harry Guy	13	12	25	8
22	Charlie Semmler	10	10	20	9
86	Edward Johnson	8	11	19	10
421	Tate Nettle	14	4	18	11
410	Fred Barry	9	9	18	12
8	Kody Irrgang	11	5	16	13
94	Jayden Hank	6	8	14	14
160	Ryan Waldhuter	DNF	13	13	15
126	Riley Diener	5	6	11	16
100	Brandon Pfeiffer	7		7	17
29	Cayce Bartch	DNF	7	7	18
240	Deacon Moss	4		4	19
20	Cody Schiller		3	3	20
14	Flynn McGorman	DNF	2	2	21

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
117	Jackson Rossi	25	25	50	1
360	Lachlan Coppen	20	22	42	2
691	Bjorn Cardenas	22	18	40	3
828	Zaiden Olsen	18	20	38	4
57	Tanner Verhees	15	14	29	5
18	Damon Martin	14	15	29	6
84	Harrison Tatchell	12	12	24	7
108	William Johnson	11	10	21	8
628	Ryder Arnold	8	11	19	9
39	Aiden Launer	10	8	18	10
188	Ricky Bartsch	9	9	18	11
5	Harry Tomich	16		16	12
45	Harry McDonald	DNF	16	16	13
443	Bryce Wilds	13		13	14
99	Owen Roth	DNF	13	13	15
521	Ollie Gear	DNF	DNS	0	16
870	Ryder Chinner		DNF	0	17

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
49	Harry Gilbertson	25	22	47	1
51	Kye Little	20	25	45	2
663	Archie Salopayevs	22	18	40	3
159	Tomi Doble	18	20	38	4
138	Jed Ferguson	16	16	32	5
77	Toby Roth	13	12	25	6
85	Lachlan Gardiner	9	15	24	7
664	Lewis Arrowsmith	10	11	21	8
10	Bailey Irrgang	8	13	21	9
287	Blake Launer	14	5	19	10
517	Xander Brown	12	6	18	11
665	Oscar Arrowsmith	7	9	16	12
176	Logan Stephens	15		15	13
317	Jaxson Fitzgerald	1	14	15	14
41	Koby Novaski	6	7	13	15
299	Jesse Bartsch	5	8	13	16
38	Harvey Gulin	11		11	17
25	Levi Blackwell	DQ	10	10	18
158	Isaac Schultz	4	4	8	19
612	Mitch Richardson	3	DNF	3	20
648	Brock Wellington	2	1	3	21
523	Ollie Fatchen	DNF	3	3	22
98	James Howie	DNF	2	2	23

JG – Junior Girl

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
515	Charlize Waldhuter	25	25	50	1
820	Addison Arrowsmith		22	22	2

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
138	Levi Rossi	25	25	50	1
54	Jayden Minerds	22	22	44	2
185	Charlie Rayson	18	20	38	3
28	Riley Throup	20	16	36	4
324	Jack Rosenzweig	16	14	30	5
12	Beau Blackwell	14	15	29	6
411	Connor Johnson	15	11	26	7
199	Kasey James Bartsch	13	13	26	8
111	Jamison Boyle	12	12	24	9
60	Hudson Wilson		18	18	10

NO.	Name	Round 3	Round 4	Total	Final
		X-Country	Sprint	Points	Placing
338	Tao Letton	25	22	47	1
71	Austin Schulz	22	25	47	2
605	Cooper McCully	18	18	36	3
142	Rafe Mohor	15	20	35	4
157	Reid Haydon	20	13	33	5
282	Max Donald	14	16	30	6
525	Frank Fatchen	16	12	28	7
619	Ollie Brombal	13	15	28	8
88	Rhys Thompson	9	14	23	9
731	Fraser Kearns	12	10	22	10
417	William Michalak	11	11	22	11
220	Zane O’Connor	8	8	16	12
52	Asha Wilson	7	7	14	13
810	Riley Boyle	6	6	12	14
86	Blake Nejman	10		10	15
257	Cole Haydon		9	9	16
144	Elliot Hobbs	5	DNF	5	17

August 31, 2023 by Geoff Battle

Over the 26th and 27th of August the 2023 SA Off Road Championships round 3 and 4 lined up as a double act with the Australian Off Road Championships rounds 7 and 8 in the beautiful Barossa Valley, presented by the Keyneton Motorcycle Club. With the SA riders joining Australia’s best over 2 full days of racing, it was only a matter of time to see who would stand tall as the 2023 SA Off Road Champion.

WSB Distributors team rider Cooper Sheidow showed absolute resilience after crashing on the first lap in Saturday’s dusty cross country conditions, he fought back making up countless positions each lap to finally finish third for the SAORC round 3 Pro open behind second-place Sean Throup and ex-pat Wil Price in first. Round 4 saw Cooper back in form to charge through the sprints and claim the round 4 2023 SAROC victory in front of Wil Price second and Sean Throup third.

Image: Cooper Sheidow by **SandPlow Photography**.

Chloe Barton had a challenging start to the weekend but still came away with a second place round 3 result, behind Emma Haylock and in front of Meg Pitchford. Overcoming and moving past the previous day’s challenges, she put her head down to take the round 4 Open Women sprint race win and overall 2023 SAORC Open Women title. After putting-up a solid fight, Emma Haylock finished second and Meg Pitchford rounded out the round 4 podium.

Picture: Chloe Barton by **Eric McConnochie**.

Shout out and congratulations has to go out to Max Midwinter after taking a clean sweep of wins for the Expert Open class in front of the consecutive round 3 and 4 second scorer placing Max Price. Tristan Throup came away with the round 3 third place and Lachlan Pattullo stepped up to stand on the Expert podium for round 4 third.

Rowan Pumpa lead the veterans class over both days whilst a challenge for the Veterans second and third played out behind him. Matthew Boyle claimed the round 3 silver place in front of Matt Curyer. Round 4 saw the second and third placings change up again with Matt Harkness coming through in second and Matthew Boyle settling for third.

Picture: Rowan Pumpa by **Eric McConnochie**.

Clubman 1 saw Jet Brien take a full clean run over both days with Thomas Mosey sitting comfortably in second holding off both round 3 third place winner Henry Berkin and round 4 third James Waldhuter.

Todd Muster was the man to clean up the Clubman 2 SAORC round 3 and 4 top spot bragging rights. Thomas Winter managed to hold off Shane Bentley attacks on the Round 3 but was unable to back it up for the Sundays Round 4, finishing behind him in third.

Similar to Clubman 2, the top title holder could not be knocked off the perch. Royden Harrold took it all in his stride to take win both days. Taking the round 3 second step was Matthew Bunnik in front of Daniel Fraser. Unfortuantly Matthew was not able to finish Sunday Sprints, leaving second place open to Daniel Fraser in front of Alex Heidenreich.

It was a clean, perfect weekend to finish 2023 for Davey Gear in J4, showing his adaptability, he rode exceptionally fast and kept his eye on the prize to go back-to-back wins in the round 3 cross country and round 4 sprints. Following Davey’s lead, Will McInnes showed nothing but consistency, bringing home consecutive second-place finishers in both the cross county and sprints races. The standout weekend battle for J4 was between Ethan Alderson and Archer Colwill. After Ethan took out the third-place finish for round 3, he narrowly missed out on the podium step for round 4, finishing just behind Archer but still claimed P3 overall for the weekend. It was not the fairy tale weekend for WSB Distributors Riley Diener after a round 3 fifteenth and round 4 sixteenth place finish.

The success was not shared across the weekend for both Gear Brothers when the points leader Ollie Gear unfortunately had a nasty crash in Saturday Round 3, leaving him unable to line up to fight for crucial points in Sunday Round 4. Taking the lead, Paint Tech SA’s team rider, Jackson Rossi showed exceptional riding to take control and claim not only the J3, round 3 and 4 win but also the 2023 SAORC J3 outright – Well Done!!

Following closely in Jacksons’ footsteps but unable to get a leg up, Lachlan Coppen took the P2 position over both days and held off Zaiden Olsen in third.

The fight for the overall J2 class weekend win came down to the line. Harry Gilbertson held off challenges from second-place Archie Salopayevs and third-place Kye Little to start the weekend off with a win. Harry was unable to continue the winning momentum through round 4 when Kye Little took control and the round 4 win with Harry fending off Archie Salopayevs in third.

Picture: Harry Gilbertson in second place on the AORC Podium by **AORC**.

Looking to be right at home in Keyneton, Paint Tech Sa’s Levi Rossi brought home the weekend in fantastic form. Both continuing his AORC 2023 campaign and finishing the SAORC rounds 7 and 8 with P1 wins. Following up in second over both rounds, Jayden Miners finished the weekend ahead of Charlie Rayson, who took home fourth place in round 3 behind Riley Throup and third place in round 4.

Picture: Levi Rossi by **Eric McConnochie**..

Charlize Waldhuter kept it clean, consistent and smooth to take the Junior Girls win all weekend ahead of Addison Arrowsmith. We are certainly in store for plenty more competition between these two in the coming years.

It was a back-and-forth tango for first and second throughout the weekend, with Tao Letton showing his strengths in cross country to take the round 3 win ahead of Austin Schulz. Coming to round 4 Sunday the show was on the other foot with Austin getting the upper hand and taking advantage of the sprints to take the round 4 win over Tao second place. Cooper McCully rounded out the weekend in third-place finishes on both rounds with absolute consistency ahead of a stacked field of riders.

August 23, 2023 by Geoff Battle

The 2023 SA Off Road Championship comes to a finish this weekend with a double-act finale….that’s right, not only is SAORC kicking into top gear for its final rounds 3 & 4 presented by the Keyneton Motorcycle Club, and AORC joins the party with rounds 7 and 8.

We have compiled some handy information below to make sure you’re all prepared, ahead of seeing Australia’s fastest off-road racing athletes live.

Competitors:

SA’s own ‘team blue’ talent, Cooper Sheidow is determined to continue his 2023 Championship success story. Currently holding the lead for the 2023 SAORC Pro class and narrowly sitting in second for the AORC E1 class. Cooper will be in a great position this weekend to finish the SA Championship chapter on top and close the AORC points gap.

Pictured: Cooper Sheidow by Foremost Media

Continuing the 2023 Women All Powers Championship battle, Chloe Barton is back with her sights set on making it a clean sweep of wins to wrap up the year. Can she pull it off or will Emma Haylock find the edge to slip ahead? If the first two Championship rounds are anything to go by, it’s going to come down to the line between the pair.

Pictured: Chloe Barton by Eric McConnochie.

Showing age doesn’t have to put the brakes on, Rowan Pumpa will be hoping to both continue his Enduro Vets SA Championship lead but also find an upper hand to close the 3-point gap behind Christopher Thomas for the 2023 AORC Veterans overall.

Pictured: Rowan Pumpa by Eric McConnochie.

Ollie and Davey Gear are coming into this weekend with plans to expand their ever growing trophy collection. Leading both the 2023 SAORC and 2023 AORC, Ollie (J3) and Davey (J4) will be brothers on a mission coming into Keyneton.

Where:

What better weekend to make the trip to the edge of the Barossa Valley and see Australia’s best off-road riders lay it all on the line through a technical new course.

The venue is just under an hour and a half drive from Adelaide and under 5 minutes down the road from Keyneton (30 Paschke Rd, Keyneton, South Australia).

Start planning your travel and check out the address – HERE.

Program Timetable:

This Weekends Course:

The Keyneton MCC has laid out an impressive gauntlet of a course for riders to negotiate through, undulating hills combined with tight scrub sections will keep riders on their toes, until speeds get turned up a notch through wide-open rocky outcrops.

Saturday’s Round 3 will see riders put their endurance to the test with a cross-country competition across the course for up to 3 hours and over 20km total.

Senior Cross-Country Loop: 20+ kms
J2, J3, J4 Cross-Country Loop: 20+ kms
JJ & J1 Cross-Country Loop: 4-5 kms

Sunday sees the action turned right up with a full day of sprint sessions to cap off the 2023 SA Off-Road Championship.

Test 1: 12.5 kms
Test 2: 8.5 kms
Test 3: 8 kms
JJ & J1 Test: Distance TBC

Catering:

Catering will be available by BJ Nelson Outdoor Catering and Happy Black Sheep is providing coffee.

Camping:

Camping is available to riders and teams on site in the pits at a low $20 per car and as we all know, off road racing can get pretty dirty, so there will be hot showers and toilets available from Friday.

Campfires are allowed for the weekend, however, campers must bring their own firewood and all fires have to be in a drum or brazier.

Important Info:

For riders, there is an online self-scrutineering form currently available (HERE) that will need to be completed before signing on for the weekend. Throughout the event, random spot checks will be conducted on bikes and riding safety gear.

Please note in regards to headlights if you are racing the SAORC. You don’t need to have headlights on your bike, as per normal SAORC rounds.

All the competitor info can be found HERE.

Timing & Results:

Be the first to keep up to date with all the results by going to the saoffroadchampionships.com or checking out one of the TV screens at the track.

Provisional Live results will be published on my.raceresult.com.
To access live timing…
 Head over to the Speedhive website and follow the “LIVE TIMING” links.
 Live timing viewing will be available on screen at the track.
Final results published on the SA Off Road Championship website.
For Supp Regs, Rule Book, latest news & more, please visit saoffroadchampionships.com or motorcyclingsa.org.au

Socials*

You can also follow all of the off road action on our social media by following the SA Off Road Championships on Facebook, Instagram or here on the SAORC website.

July 12, 2023 by Geoff Battle

The 2023 SA Off Road Championships story kicks off with rounds 1 & 2 over the 15th and 16th of July at an exceptionally exciting new course in Culburra, presented by the Keith and District Motorcycle Club. We couldn’t be happier to see the return of a new season of thrills and spills with growing anticipation on who will write their name into the history books as the 2023 Championship winner.

With 172 riders locking in their registration and still a couple of hours left for entries, the weekend is shaping up to be the perfect return for a long-awaited Off road season. To help you prepare for a jam-packed weekend of Cross Country and Sprints for Rounds 1 and 2, we’ve compiled a handy collection of things you should know, including just some of the talent lining up for 2023, where to catch all the action timing and staying connected.