STIHL TIMBERPORTS® Australia Rookie Championship - Tasmania.

Competition Round Up

The Gurr brothers from Deloraine ruled the day, proving that consistency is key in STIHL TIMBERPORTS®. Both men took out 1st and 2nd spots in the Tasmanian STIHL TIMBERPORTS® Rookie Championship, presented by VW Amarok V6.

Daniel Gurr (20) pipped older brother Luke (24) to the top spot, after a tough competition across four disciplines. Daniel had an impressive win in the standing block followed by 4th place in the single buck, STIHL stock saw and the underhand chop. He finished the day on 31 points overall.

The Gurr brothers both qualify for the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian Rookie Championship Final to be held in September, and are both now one step closer to representing Australia at the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championships Next year.

Daniel Gurr said, "I didn't have the greatest day with some of my disciplines but with the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® format it's all about consistency.

It would mean a lot to represent Australia at the World Championship and it's exciting to be one step closer."

Pre-Championship favourite Daniel Beams managed to recover from a bad start finishing 3rd overall with 24 points. He could still qualify for the Australian Rookie Championship Final in September as one of the fastest combined times. He will only know his fate after the three remaining qualifiers are held in QLD, VIC and NSW.

Josh Bakes had a rough start in the cut-throat format, with a DQ on the singlebuck - reminiscent of his DQ in the stock saw at last year's Rookie final. He showed form through the day taking 2nd place in the standing block and 1st in the underhand chop but the DQ cost him. He finished the day in 4th place with 23 points on the VW Amarok V6 championship board.

In the battle of the step-brothers, bragging rights go to the younger brother
Mitch Direen (16). At his STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® debut, he showed his raw talent by taking 2nd place in the STIHL Stock saw discipline and 3rd in the Underhand Chop to finish 7th overall, Standing block and single buck were his downfall but, being eight years younger than some of the competition, he can hold his head high.

Mitch's step brother Sam Cook finished one spot below in 8th place.

Mitch still stands a chance of making the Australian final as his overall time was one of the fastest combined. As with fellow competitor Daniel Beams, he won't know his fate until the three remaining qualifiers take place.

2017 ROOKIE STATE FINAL RESULTS
Daniel Gurr 31 points                          Zack Beams 22 points
Luke Gurr 28 points                            Mitch Direen 22 points
Daniel Beams 24 points                      Sam Cook 18 points
Josh Bakes 23 points                           Tyson Rowe 14 points
Jesse Bakes 23 points                          Riley Sheehan 12 points