Josh Green has acknowledged matching Daniel Milner’s (KTM Enduro Racing Team) intensity will be key to overcoming the AORC, ISDE and A4DE champion this year in the Yamaha bLU cRU Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC).

Green wound up with a pair of runner-up finishes in the E2 category of Toowoomba’s first and second rounds at the weekend, setting the fourth and fifth fastest outright times on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Piloting the all-new WR450F prepared by the Yamaha Active8 Yamalube Racing operation, the New South Welshman has firmly set his target bridging the gap to Milner in the rounds to come.

“On the podium both days and inside the top five outright so it was a pretty good start for me to the championship,” Green commented. “The new WR450F went exceptionally well all weekend and we had no issues with it whatsoever. I can’t fault the bike at all as its power and handling were impressive in terrible conditions.

“For me, I still need to work on bridging the gap between myself and Daniel. He is riding really well at the moment, but I have to chip away at the extra speed he has and try and match his race intensity for longer at each round. He is a world champion so it’s a tough ask but I want to improve, and he is certainly the guy to chase at the moment.”

The Australian Off-Road Championship returns to action on 6-7 April in Dungog, New South Wales, for rounds three and four.