Australian 2009 / 2010 National Series Champions
After a very competitive 3 rounds in Glenorchy, Shepparton and Thredbo the national series turned up to the 2009 World Champs venue, Stromlo, for the fourth and final race.
Aden Wyber
Missing the second round due to injury, Ben Cory was 2 wins from 2 races and it was set to be a tight battle between himself, Shaun OConnor and Chris Kovarik for the title.
After it being announced that he will be part of the 2010 junior World Champs team Aden Wyber was keen to finish a successful national season on top of the podium. With 2 wins and a 2nd place from 3 rounds Aden was in the drivers seat. Although, with Troy Brosnan sitting in 2nd place he couldnt afford to get too comfortable.
The Stromlo track was in its usual dry and dusty condition and after some rough weather over the last month was fairly rutted and blown-out. Other than a change to the start the track was identical to that of the World Champs course.
Aden qualified 3rd and knew that with a top 20 finish he was likely to take the title home. Knocking 6 seconds off his seeding run Aden comfortably finished in 2nd and stood proudly on the top step of the podium as series champion.
In the elite men there were some very conservative times across the field in seeding and it was set to be a great final. Ben qualified 6th, over 10 seconds from Chris Kovarik and 6 seconds from Shaun OConnor so he knew he had his work cut out for him in the final if he was going to take the title. Ben took the hot seat with 5 riders to come, as expected he was still there to watch his closest rivals Shaun and Chris. A nail biting 4 tenths of a second was all that separated Ben and Shaun in 2nd and 3rd with Chris Kovarik taking the win. Those 4 tenths of a second turned out to be very valuable with Ben prevailing the national series champion by only 7 points.
