Hands on the Wood!!!!!

The 2016 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian Championship presented by Volkswagen AMAROK will be live and loud across Australia from March through to October.

Witness epic battles between big men with big axes, big saws and even bigger chainsaws in the Original Extreme Sport.

The 2016 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian Championship will consist of five gruelling rounds held across the country, where the nation's top eight STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® athletes go head-to-head in six extreme wood chopping disciplines at each round.

Only one will emerge victorious and win the honour of representing Australia in the
2016 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championships held in Stuttgart, Germany on 11th & 12th November 2016.

In STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® consistency is key. Athletes must master six technically demanding disciplines – three wood chopping and three sawing:

CHOPPING

Underhand Chop
Standing Block Chop
Springboard Chop

SAWING

Single Buck Saw
Stock Saw
Hotsaw

This worldwide sport originated in the logging camps of Tasmania in the 1890s and now STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® championships are held in over 23 countries across the world…and the world's best is Australia! Smashing the Americans, Canadians, the Europeans and our Kiwi neighbours, our mighty lumberjacks are the two-time, reigning world team champions and holders of three world records.

The axe-tion starts this March in Adelaide with round 1 part of the off-track action at the V8 SuperCars Clipsal 500. In May, it's over to Agfest in Tasmania for Round 2. After a winter break, the series heads to sunny Queensland in July teaming up with the
V8 Supercars Ipswich SuperSprint. From there it's down to Victoria for round 4 at the
V8 SuperCars Sandown 500. The series concludes with the final round in NSW at the Bathurst 1000 in October.

Full Event Schedule:
• Round 1: Adelaide, SA (Clipsal 500 V8's) 5th - 6th March
• Round 2: Tasmania (Agfest) 6th - 7th May
• Round 3: Ipswich, QLD (Ipswich V8's) 23rd - 24th July
• Round 4: Victoria (Sandown V8's) 17th -18th September
• Round 5: Bathurst, NSW (Bathurst 1000 V8's) – 7-9th October

The big question is…can young Victorian man Brayden Meyer back up his 2015 Australian Championship win or will crowd favourites Brad De Losa from NSW and Laurence O'Toole, also from Victoria, knock him of his wooden throne?

2016 STIHL TIMERSPORTS® Australian Championship athletes
The 2016 Championship will be contested by the top eight athletes from the 2015 event.

Rank 1: Brayden Meyer, VIC (2015 Australian Champion)
Rank 2: Brad De Losa, NSW
Rank 3: Mitchel Argent, QLD
Rank 4: Laurence O'Toole, VIC
Rank 5: Jamie Head, QLD
Rank 6: Matt Gurr, TAS
Rank 7: Kody Steers, TAS
Rank 8: Brody Dingle, QLD

How the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian championship works:

At each round, the eight athletes will compete in six disciplines (as listed above).
It's a race against the clock! The fastest athlete receives 8 points, the slowest receives
1 point and a DQ for breaking the set discipline rules, such as cutting over the line or jumping the gun, will leave an athlete with 0 (zero) points.

The points from each discipline are tallied and the winner is the athlete with the most points. If a tie occurs then a decider round using the Stock Saw determines 1st and 2nd place. Overall times added together decide 3rd to 8th places.

Championship points are awarded for each round - 8 points for the round winner, down to 1 point for last place. The title of Australian Champion will awarded to the athlete with the most points after all five rounds.

But that's not all that is at stake….

The top three athletes will automatically qualify for the following year's championship.

The bottom five athletes will do battle against the winner from each of the state qualifiers. This competition will take place on the 2nd day at each state event.

The state qualifiers act as a feeder into the Australian Championship and offer
second-tier athletes a chance to chop their way to the big time. The state qualifiers will follow the same format and are open to all athletes, with a maximum of eight per round.

So what's up for grabs?

The 2016 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian Championship has an overall prize pool of $100,000 up for grabs across the five rounds.

But the top prize isn't the money! The winners will represent Australia at the 2016 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship in Stuttgart, Germany in November.

The Australian Champion will compete in the Individual Competition at the event, across all six STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines. Competing against the world's top 16 elite TIMBERSPORTS athletes, they have the chance to take home the title of World Champion.

The top five athletes will form the Australian team. They will compete in the Team Relay, against over 20 countries from around the world, and aim to claim a 3rd straight world title win. The team competes in the Stock Saw, Underhand, Single Buck and Standing Block disciplines in a tag team, relay style.

Rookies Championship – New for 2016!
To ensure Australia is always competitive on the world stage 2016 will see the introduction of a Rookie championship at select rounds (TBC). The Rookie Championship is open to competitors under 25 years old and is made up of 4 of the 6 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines; Stocksaw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck Saw and Underhand Chop. (with slightly smaller wood than the full championships).

How can you see the axe-tion?
LIVE! - at each of the rounds listed above

TV - the 5 round series will be filmed for airing on Channel 7's 7mate (TV schedule to follow shortly).

Online - follow all the axe-tion on STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australia's Facebook and Twitter pages or at www.stihl.com.au/Timbersports