de Jager doesn’t bomb at Orange meet

DANIEL POWELL

LOCAL rider Aden de Jager finished third overall in round two of the Yamaha Stadium Motocross Series at Orange on Saturday.

de Jager, riding for Hogs Breath Yamaha Academy, snared third place in the Pro Open class thanks to consistent performances over the two heats and two finals contested.

He snared a podium place behind winner Matt Moss and second-placed Daniel McCoy.

de Jager finished third and second in his heats before battling average starts in both finals. He bounced back to finish third and fifth place for each of the finals.

“I managed to get two strong starts in both of my heat races and came away with a pair of podium results, but in the two final I was not able to duplicate the great starts made earlier, but still managed to fight back to bring home enough points for third,” de Jager said.

“Considering I was up against factory-based riders my overall result of third was very encouraging. This has given me confidence in the lead up to this year’s Australian Championship rounds.”

The highlight of the night was de Jager’s effort in the second heat race where he got the hole-shot to lead the field into the first turn.

de Jager maintained that position for the opening three laps before an unfortunate missed gear in the final corner before the closing lap board allowed Mitchell Hoad to pass and seal victory.

de Jager is looking forward to more of these stronger results in the future and is having heaps of fun and loving his 2008 Yamaha YZF 450cc 4-stroke ride.

“I cannot speak highly enough of the 2008 Yamaha YZF,” de Jager said.

His next appearance will be the third round of the Yamaha Stadium Motocross Series at Maitland Showground on Saturday, March 8.