Double Podium for ShopYamaha Off Road at A4DE

Josh Green and Cooper Sheidow both stood on the podium at the conclusion of racing at the 2023 Australian Four Day Enduro, held in Harvey, WA last week.Green finished in second place in the E2 (450cc) division and second Outright, while teammate Cooper Sheidow claimed second place in the E1 (250cc) and an impressive fourth Outright.

To view the ShopYamaha bLU cRU A4DE Highlights: https://youtu.be/eU6Nlk2Nw6s

Green fell just short of winning the 2023 Australian Off Road Enduro after a fighting performance all week in Western Australia. How close was Green from winning the event? Half a second. Yes, .5 was all the separated Green from eventual winner, Jonte Reynders, after nearly two hours of racing, across 22 special tests and four days of riding.

Green started the event in the right fashion and charged to a handy lead on day one. But over the next couple of days, Green wasn’t able to increase his lead as Reynders stayed in the battle and coming down to the final motocross test on the final day of action, Green held just under a 10 second gap over Reynders.

As the E2 final charged into the first turn, Green put his leg out to enter the first turn but then felt a jolt of pain shudder through his body. He was distracted and clearly uncomfortable as he tried to stay in the fight despite the pain pulsating through his knee. He lost considerable time as he recomposed himself and began to get back in the battle. He put his head down and tried to reel in the gap to Reynders. In the end, Green crossed the finish line in third place and 10.5 seconds behind Reynders.  Half a second was all that spilt them in the end.

“I gave it my all,” Green lamented at weeks’ end. “The event was great to ride and the terrain and riding around Harvey is always good, so despite missing out on the win, I still enjoyed racing it.

“I started the week well and on day one built up a good lead, but I couldn’t increase it in the middle couple of days. I made a couple of mistakes and fell in a test that cost me.

“Then I felt my knee pop and the initial diagnoses is ligament damage to my knee. I’m booked in for further scans on Thursday and will know more then but it feels MCL or PCL related to me. If it requires any surgery, I might also get some clean-up work done on my wrist as it’s also been causing my grief.     

“Thank you to the team again for all the support. I’m glad the four-day is on the calendar as it’s a great event and a huge thank you to the organisers for finally making this one happen in WA,” Green ends.

Cooper Sheidow enjoyed his best result in the A4DE with a solid second place in the E1 class and fourth outright shows a real coming of age for the South Australian. With Kyron Bacon on the injury list, Sheidow has taken his opportunity with the ShopYamaha team with both hands and produced another great result in a tough and challenging event.

Sheidow matched class leader Korey McMahon in many of the special tests but wasn’t as consistent as McMahon across the four days but it was still an encouraging performance and one that the young gun can take plenty of confidence from.

“I’m inexperienced at a four day so it was awesome to have the team around me to guide me through it and provide plenty of advice when I needed it. Having AJ and Josh there to lean on was a huge help.

“I also liked the format of a four day and it’s a tough event. There is a lot of riding, a lot of special tests and it takes all your focus on each day to get through without any issues. I made a few mistakes myself, but the bike was awesome, and I can’t thank everyone on the team enough for giving me the help and encouragement that I needed,” Sheidow said.

It was also an impressive ride from Jett Yarnold. The teenager from Armidale, NSW, finished sixth in class in his first A4DE and fifteenth outright. Racing four continuous days against Australia’s best off-road riders was a steep learning curve for Yarnold but he is developing nicely.

Unfortunately, the news wasn’t good for Wil Dennett. Dennett came out firing on day one and was inside the top five Outright that had heads turning. But it all went pare-shaped on day two when he fell and broke his collarbone , forcing him to withdraw from the event.

“It was a week of ups and down,” Yamaha off road manager AJ Roberts explains. “Four days of racing challenges everyone and at Yamaha we experienced all kinds of emotions over the week. We experienced some great highs with Jess Gardiner winning another A4DE and Cooper and Jett achieving personal bests but also some disappointment with Josh just missing the win and the injury to Wil.

“But we will be back as it’s a great event and thank you to organisers for making it happen. Also, thanks to our team sponsors who continue to stand behind us and to Yamaha for their passionate involvement in racing,” Roberts ends.

A4DE RESULTS

Outright
1^st Jonte Reynders
2^nd Josh Green (Yamaha)
3^rd Korey McMahon
4^th Cooper Sheidow
5^th Andrew Wilksch

E1- 250cc
1^st Korey McMahon
2^nd Cooper Sheidow (Yamaha)
3^rd William Price
4^th Tom Mason
5^th Jesse Lawton
6^th Jett Yarnold (Yamaha)

E2- 450cc
1^st Jonte Reynders
2^nd Josh Green (Yamaha)
3^rd Andrew Wilksch
4^th Fraser Higlett
5^th Jeremy Carpentier (Yamaha)