Had I not had the chance to meet him, I just don't think I could have pushed "publish" on this!
Motul Metzeler Sherco Race Team rider Anthony Solar - The current Australian Hard Enduro Championship series Gold Class title holder.
What a rider, what a ride. He set the Bunbury KTM WHES Round 2 at MildWood alight this weekend over here in W.A.
With just an easy up to sit under, a deck chair to sit on, and one kit bag to carry all his crap, Anthony Solar was not at all what I was expecting. Any more laid back and he'd have been horizontal.
He honestly looked as happy as a pig in shit for 9.99/10ths of the day. He wandered around the pits like he was a local. The only thing that gave away his pedigree was the dirty great big yellow #1 on the back of his jersey.
I even saw him out in the playground between classes, grinning like a 5-year-old, snapping videos of the Bronze riders struggling in the famous Mildwood Frog Pond; the bog hole that claims any and every rider that loses momentum to hesitation!
And why wouldn't he have been smiling?
The sun was shining, the dirt was grippy and the dust that has plagued the dry south-west for most of the season to date was all but an apparition.
To that end Solar nailed MildWood to the wall in Moto 1, 2 and 3.
Make no mistake, however, the WHES contingent did not make it an easy win.
Still recovering from some serious bone, muscle, tissue and tendon abuse WRD / Bunbury KTM rider Darren Rudling came out of his corner swinging.
Though Rudling led for much of the first moto, Solar managed to edge him out before the flag dropped.
But not before Anthony put his heart in his mouth, having a massive moment from which he made the most incredible recovery I've ever seen! The entire sequence was captured by race photographer Ben Lovett!
Dominating most of the second race, all Darren could do was stay right up his date, hoping that something of Solars might go pop a second time.
Sargeant Shaw (WHES Prez) decided to run the pack into the forest first for the third moto, which seemed to give Darren an early lead. But Solar reeled him in and put the hammer down to cap off the three consecutive wins from three motos.
And, the entire time, just over the shoulders of both Solar and Rudling, there was an escaped carnival beast that could smell blood.
Destroying his bike only a month earlier at the Toodyay Terror, it was clear that the notion of self-preservation was still well and truly lost on Mark Arntz.
He went well hard all day to finish third and then turned on one hell of a show for the crowd in Bent Rhythm, where he just about struck the death knell for his beloved 300 Racing.
Mildwood really is an event that should be on the Must-See calendar for every single hard enduro fan in W.A. Why? Because it is incredible racing; every moto in every class!
As good as it was to see the Surgeon do battle with a stallion and a carnival beast, the crowd were hanging over the racing tape to cheer on young James Oremek.
James also went three wins from three motos in the Silver category.
Yes! This is the same young lad that only just stepped up to Silver from Bronze and has, so far, only ridden most of the Jarvis Invitational and less than one lap of the Toodyay Terror in the Silver Class.
Mildwood? Three wins from three motos! Yes.....all three.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: THIS IS WHES!
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