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The Australian Invasion!

Matthew PHILLIPS (AUS - Sherco) in EnduroGP seems to be inspiring his fellow countrymen... Indeed, the very first EnduroGP World Champion in history will be joined by two young guns from the Australian Enduro series this season, namely: Daniel SANDERS (KTM) and Ben KEARNS (Sherco)!

2016 Australian Off-Road Champion, Daniel SANDERS joins the Fabio FARIOLI's factory KTM team, pairing up in Enduro 2 alongside young Spaniard Josep GARCIA. The rider from Melbourne has a good chance of strong results in his first season at the FIM Maxxis Enduro World Championship, and certainly has the talent to fight right at the front of the pack...
For his part, the very young Ben KEARNS (he will turn 18 in April) is also trying his luck in EnduroGP this year. He will be Matt PHILLIPS' team-mate in Fabrizio AZZALIN's Sherco CH Racing Team. KEARNS finished 4th in the Under 19 class of the Australian Off-Road Championship. Young enough to enter the FIM Youth Cup 125cc class, KEARNS and AZZALIN are still waiting to know if the brand new Sherco 125 SE-R will be ready for the second round of the World Championship… If not, the rider from Sidney will line up in the Junior class.

With his four titles (Junior 2013, E3 2014, EGP and E2 2016), PHILLIPS has shown that the riders from "Down Under" could perform very well... and Daniel SANDERS and Ben KEARNS will arrive in EnduroGP in 2017 with this same motivation for success. And with the possible addition of Jemma WILSON (Yamaha) and Jessica GARDINER (Yamaha) there would be no fewer than five Australian riders competing in the paddock. All that, without mentioning that we nearly saw the arrival of Daniel MILNER too…

Photo of Ben Kearns: MXnews.com.au