2017 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian Rookie Champion

Presented by AMAROK V6

Young Tasmanian, Daniel Gurr the son of leading Timbersports axeman Matt Gurr, has taken out the 2017 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Australian Rookie Championship. Held at Melbourne's Albert Park over the weekend, Gurr triumphed in a spectacular Stock Saw showdown against fellow Tasmanian Josh Bakes.

As the competition drew to a close, the heat soared as temperatures dropped delivering a phenomenal end to a great day of competition.

Both Gurr and Bakes were hot on each other's heels throughout the day, finishing the competition in joint first place on 34 points.

Bakes won the draw to go into the showdown first but it was Gurr who brought the goods and cut the fastest time of 12.70 seconds.

Melbourne didn't disappoint as a strong crowd came out to show their support for the Rookie competition. Young gun Gurr got off to a firing start in the Stock Saw finishing the round in 1st place over all. Jack Argent wasn't far behind with a time of 13.23 and sadly older brother Luke DQ-ed.

Gurr's winning streak continued into the second round, the Standing Block, cutting the top time of 17.02 seconds. Josh Bakes, never far away, was showing form with a time of 17.88 seconds to secure 2nd place.

But the misery whip lived up to its name for Daniel Beams (Tas) who made a rookie mistake and had to reset his saw after a jag at the start of his competition.

Daniel's bad luck continued when he hit a knot in his wood and realised that the competition was over.

The real competition came down to Gurr and Bakes once again when they went head to head to finish the day. Bakes cut a time of 18.54 seconds while Gurr came close behind on 19.16 seconds, bringing them to a 34 point tie.

Gurr now heads to Europe in early 2018 to represent Australia at the 2018 STIHL TiMBERSPORTS® Rookie World Championship. His first international competition.

FINAL POINTS

ATHLETE              POINTS
Daniel Gurr (Tas)            34*
Josh Bakes (Tas)             34
Tom Wilkinson (Qld)        26
Gerald Youles (Qld)          24
Carsen Jones (Qld)           21
Jack Argent (Qld)              21
Kyle Meyer (Vic)               20
Zach Beams (Tas)             15
Daniel Beams (Tas)          11
Luke Gurr (Tas)                 9
* Gurr took the title by winning the Stock Saw show down