Reigning Australian ProEnduro champion Daniel Milner and his WA-born teammate Jackson Versteegen closed off Western Australia’s Pony Express season in dominant style in Brookton.
By Tom Shanahan
One of the most prestigious riders in Australian enduro history, Daniel Milner, a six-time Australian Enduro champion and the 2018 ISDE Outright Winner, flew over to WA for the final round of the 2026 Brookton Pony Express.
Milner laid down a benchmark laptime in qualifying on the Saturday, eclipsing Brookton Pony Express series leading pair of Bunbury KTM’s Benjamin Lynch and South West Yamaha’s Taj Moore by 5 seconds to secure Pole for Sunday’s race.
Starting in P1, the KTM DM31 team wiped the floor on Sunday, holding the lead for the entire four hour race and lapping every rider to win in the third and final round of the Brookton Pony Express series.
His young teammate Jackson Versteegen received a warm welcome upon his return to Western Australia enduro scene, riding once again in an event he learnt his trade in as a junior.
“Honestly, it was a really fun weekend for me coming back to WA and you know race once again with the people I have grown up with,” Versteegen said.
“It was really good to get the win on a stock KTM 300 and it was great to show what they are capable of straight out of the box,”
Event organiser Willie Thomson said it is fantastic for the WA racing community to see Enduro royalty race at this event.
“You know it’s great for the young riders to see what is possible from Enduro racing,” Mr Thomson said.
“We really appreciate Milner and Versteegen and the KTM team coming out to WA for this event.”
While Milner and Versteegen won Round 3, it didn’t stop homegrown talent of Ben Lynch and Taj Moore for taking out the overall 2026 Brookton Pony Express.
The championship victory puts Lynch in rare territory, as he now is a 6 time Brookton Pony Express Champion, bolstering an incredible 19 race wins from 23 race starts at this event.
Earlier in the weekend, the Junior Pony Express delivered exciting racing of its own, with Mandurah City KTM’s Lucas Butcher finishing off a perfect 2026 season, winning back-to-back-to-back races to sweep the junior running of this year’s event.