The 2025 Yamaha Enduro Championship landed in Tintinara, SA for Rounds 5 and 6 — and while Daniel Milner ruled Saturday’s Cross Country with a dominant win, it was Jye Dickson who stole the show in Sunday’s Sprints with a stunning first-career round victory.
Round 5 – Cross Country
The Pro Enduro field charged into the long-format Cross Country on Saturday, with Milner (DM31 KTM Racing Team) launching out of the gate like a missile. But things took a weird turn at Turn 3 — a last-minute track change caught him out, and Milner took an S-bend that no longer existed. That error dropped him back to eighth and handed the lead to Korey McMahon (DM31 KTM), but McMahon’s luck didn’t last either. A crash on lap one saw him tumble down the order.
That opened the door for Yamaha’s young gun Will Dennett, who rode smart and fast with a clear track, building a decent lead early on. Teammate Wil Ruprecht was close behind, while McMahon regrouped and moved back into third with Reynders, Dickson and Wilksch in tow.
Things got serious on lap three. Ruprecht began reeling in Dennett, and Milner — now fully in the zone — moved into third just as the Yamaha squad ducked in for the first fuel stop. Milner inherited the lead, and when KTM pitted a lap later, his crew nailed a flawless stop to keep him in front.
From there, Milner hit full send mode. Ruprecht faded off the pace while Dennett, McMahon, and Wilksch locked into a scrap for the podium spots. McMahon threw everything at Dennett on the final lap, even clipping a tree in the process, but couldn’t get the job done. Milner won by 56 seconds. Dennett crossed second, McMahon took third, and Wilksch fought through to fourth ahead of Jonte Reynders.
Round 6 – Sprint Format
Come Sunday, Jye Dickson (Beta Australia Enduro Team) was clearly on a mission. After a frustrating Cross Country race, the Victorian made the sandy Sprint tests his own, smashing the opening two tests with the fastest times. Milner responded in Test 3, edging Dickson by a single second, but Dickson fired back and never let up.
The Pro class was chaos behind them. McMahon ran hot early but slipped to seventh after a mistake in the fifth test. Wilksch, Reynders, Dennett and McMahon traded top-five positions all day as the rough, whooped-out sand track caught even the best off guard.
At the end of the day, it was Dickson who stood tallest, taking his first-ever AORC round win and the first for the Beta Australia team. Milner, pushing through brutal hand blisters from Saturday, came home second. Wilksch nailed down third with another classy ride.
Class Highlights
In E1, Jonte Reynders was untouchable in Saturday’s Cross Country but suffered a costly five-minute penalty in Sunday’s Sprint round, handing the win to Cooper Sheidow (Blu Cru Yamaha). Jett Yarnold grabbed second with Will Price rounding out the podium.
E2 saw Milner top the charts in both formats. Saturday’s mishap only fired him up, and despite the Sprint fatigue, he did enough to keep Wilksch and Dennett at bay. Yamaha’s Dennett showed impressive form all weekend, backing up his Saturday runner-up with third in the sprints.
In E3, McMahon dominated Saturday’s longer race, beating the class by over five minutes. But on Sunday, it was all Dickson. The Beta rider was unstoppable, finishing 90 seconds clear of McMahon with Husky’s Riley McGillivray in third both days.
EJ was all about Will McInnes. The KTM youngster held off Kogan Lock (GASGAS) in a tight Saturday battle, then stormed every single test on Sunday to make it two-from-two for the weekend.
In EW, Jessica Gardiner was once again in a league of her own. She owned the Cross Country and never looked threatened in the sprints, collecting max points across both rounds. Madi Simpson recovered from a rough start on Saturday to land back-to-back podiums, while Emelie Karlsson showed huge improvement with a Saturday second.
The Yamaha Australia Enduro Championship circus now heads to Casterton, Victoria, for Rounds 7 and 8 on June 28–29. If this weekend’s anything to go by, we’re in for a wild ride through the championship run.
