WHES Round 3: Will Dardanup dish up a Dash of spice?

For all intent and purpose, the winner of this event is going to be harder to pick than a broken nose. Especially for Round 2 winner Kal West, who just did his right shoulder on a log 10 minutes into marking out the track for the Dardy Dash on the weekend just gone.

This is quite unfortunate, as it comes less than a month after he made mincemeat of Mildwood during Round 2. A victory that put him on top of the championship table.

Though Kel won't be racing he will be in the crowd; easily recognizable as “....the guy that looks like a crack addict pacing back and forth along the sidelines.” But he won't be alone on the sidelines. Infact, the who's who of WHES is something of a who's who isn't at the moment!

Gold Class who's who isn't: Right to Left. Jakob Petrig (fractured wrist), Kel West (busted shoulder), Halen Wickert (busted something) and Chase Lardner (smiling like he knows something we don't (or now do).

Starting grid aside, let's (for a brief moment) move onto more philosophical musings before the green flag drops.

There are moments in racing where you get a glimpse of a future that may or may not be written into reality. Mine was at the season finale (the Toodyay Terror) in 2022.

I’d been following Ben Wallings progress as a rider for some time. Met him. Chatted. Penned some stories, including a massive 6 page feature spread in Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine. Ben was 14. Yes: 14. And he was about to take a step onto the podium for the W.A. Hard Enduro Series Championship.

We were chewing the fat just prior to the presentation and, as we were chatting, I looked across the crowd to see young Jakob Petrig chilling in a deck chair with the family by the fire. He was about 15 and HE had also got on the podium in Silver.

I wondered, way back then, what it would be like to see Jakob and Ben go toe to toe.

So, as you could well imagine, when I saw the rider list for the WHES Round 3: The Dardanup Dash, I thought all of my manifesting had finally come to fruition.

At only 14 years of age, Ben Walling had made one hell of a dent in the WHES Series in 2022. He was racing Gold against some obscenely talented riders that were twice his age and then some. He finished the season as second-runner up to Darren Rudling who, the year before, was dominating the W.A. enduro scene. The race prior Ben was causing jaws to drop at Mildwood when, after blitzing the opposition in the super enduro styled ‘Bent Rhythm’ events, he was popping his husky TE250 up and along the concrete barriers like he was riding a trials bike.

Did I mention he was only 14?

Ben (taking it to the) Walling!

But the opportunity to race trials at an international level pulled the sensible side of Ben back towards what he was born to do. And, as such, he dropped off the hard enduro circuit and left a lot of us clicking our heels together wishing he’d come back home to WHES.

Just chilling pre-Trials GP in Germany! As ya do.

2 ½ years later, at 17 years of age and after two years of trials competition nationally and internationally, Beta Australia rider Ben Walling is back!

Not for a long time, but certainly for a good time and joining him on the starting grid is his younger brother Jack, also fully sponsored by Beta Australia.

Chatting to Ben he seems to have totally juxtaposed that laid back but fully amped vibe that only a 17-year-old can manage. I asked him (with a glimmer of hope and all my digits crossed) if this was the start of a comeback to Hard Enduro. “At this point in time it’s just a one-time thing, to get out there and ride with my little bro.”

Jack looking slick: Beta Australia backing the boy now!

Though Jack will bump the front of his 85 on the starting gate against only one other Junior, this is a kid that is used to punching well above his weight.

Like all the Wallings, Jack does not like anything easy. He won Trials Junior Nationals at only 12 years of age. Not content to win the same title in two consecutive years he stepped up to Open Junior at 13 in 2025 and took that title against competitors many years his senior.

So, if you are in Bronze, don’t be surprised if you see the backside of Jack at some time during your race. Butter wouldn’t melt in this kid’s mouth, but if you are in the way, Jack will be foots-up and over both you and your bike, and you won’t even see him coming.

I asked him how he felt about being buried in amongst the Bronze and whether he thought he had the goods to get one up on any of them. With all the cheek of a 13-year-old he quipped “One of them? All of them hahah….Nah we will see. This is more of a learning experience than anything else and of course I am there mainly to have fun!”

What was the word you used to describe the track Mr President?

What is Dardanup going to be like?

Well, when Ben and I started chatting about the specifics of the track I could sense the anticipation beginning to simmer.  To my comments he replied “I had no idea what the property was like and didn’t choose it specifically as the race to ride. I made the decision to ride on Friday (ed- that’s Friday just gone, three days before cut off), so not much thought had gone into it.” This is not a Trials riders track and Ben is not a rider that has chosen to make a cameo on a pure technical track like Toodyay where he is certain to dominate. He genuinely just wants to go at it.

He also had no idea that, despite registering to ride, Jakob was effectively out of the race as his fracture has not yet healed. Missing the opportunity to bump bars with Jakob, the disappointment was evident.  “Ahhhh bugger, would have been killa”. Yup Ben, it sure would’ve.

But there are many ingredients in this Dardy dish that WHES have on the boil, and the betting men (and women) among us have put plenty of money on Chase Lardner.

Chase is, of course, racing on his home turf (quite literally the track is built on his farm). And he was involved in the track setting, so he is very familiar with what lies ahead. That said though, Chase is also in his first year as a Senior and is still coming to terms with the enormity of racing in the Gold Class. Having only just turned sixteen a couple of months ago, he is going to have to show maturity beyond his years and take a measured approach to the two x two hour motos.

Familiar terrain? Yes. Chase will push hard at home.

If he bolts like a bull at a gate, to take advantage of his familiarity with the course, he risks coming unstuck. Not only will he throw his day away, but he will also topple from the precarious position he holds on the Championship standings.

Personally, I hope he plays it safe enough to go the distance because it would be epic to see him race both motos against Ben Walling.

All and sundry have been saying that Dardy will be open and fast in sections, but McCarthy says that “this track is spicey”. An interesting choice of words from the WHES Prez.

Chase is on a 2025 KTM 300exc that he is well and truly dialed in to, having raced it twice this year. Ben is riding a loaner Beta X Trainer from the legends at Moto Dynamics. At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, Chase is going to have the confidence to fully stretch the legs of the Katy on the open stuff. Ben may possibly ride more conservatively in the paddocks because it isn’t long before he is due back at the check-in counter bound for Europe.

But if there are elements of the track that are as techy as Grant McCarthy suggests, then Ben will most certainly reel Chase in on the ‘had enough?’ stuff.

Petrig, with both tech skill and speed, would have been the ultimate equaliser to drive a wedge between the two of them to create the ultimate teenage dream. But alas, we can’t always get what we want.

As spicy as all that sounds the recipe for Gold would be flavorless without a little Braaaaap thrown into the mix. The taste sensation that is Damien Pruden could be the one that puts his signature on this dish.

Let’s face it; for Season 25 so far, he is currently Mr Consistency finishing well both Rounds 1 and 2. With Kel and Jakob out for the count he just must observe that one simple rule “Go that way, and if something gets in your way…turn.” Pruden is incredibly fast, technically skillful and rides the KTM like it is just another appendage. Top step is not just a reality, but a probability.

Like the ADHD pre-schooler at the back of the class jumping up and down in his seat to get the last question in before the home-time bell I pressed Ben Walling to ask one final question.

Is this really it? Is it really going to be just one race?

Ben responded “Haha. We’ll see how this one goes and then follow the flow in to see where it takes us next”

Take whatever Twist you want on that!