GASGAS racer Korey McMahon has begun his 2023 Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) title fight with two strong runner-up results at the opening rounds in Mendooran, New South Wales.
In sandy conditions, McMahon and his GASGAS EC 250F enjoyed an intense fight for E1 class honours during Saturday’s opening round, finishing just 14 seconds behind the leader after seven sandy sprint tests.
The 21-year-old remained in hot form for Sunday’s second round as the championship moved to some rougher, more technical sprint tests, again comfortably finishing second in the E1 class, with almost a minute’s buffer between himself and third.
Mendooran also saw GASGAS-mounted Jye Dickson race to two top-three results, finishing second in the E2 class on Saturday to open his 2023 account, then getting the better of one of his rivals over Sunday’s rougher tests to finish with another P2 result.
Rounds three and four of the AORC season will be held at Queensland Moto Park from 22-23 April.
Korey McMahon: “It was a solid weekend and it was good to be competitive over both rounds. After the first day, I ended up second in class and third outright, even though it was super-challenging and the tests were really rough. My bike was handling great and I felt really comfortable on it. I struggled a bit more on Sunday with the slower stuff, as I didn’t have the bike set-up properly, but we were still competitive and brought home another P2 result. I’m pretty happy with how I’ve started the year and how I’ve progressed over the off-season, so I’ll keep to keep training and keep it going into the next couple of rounds!”