After missing last year’s event due to an injury sustained at Dakar 2011 and a heart attack resulting in bypass surgery, Garland is more than ready to tackle the 2012 challenge.
“I was really disappointed not to be at Safari last year, but it just wasn’t our year given my back injury and the heart surgery,” he said.
“But I’ve completely recovered - I think it’s actually made me faster because I’m not going to waste any more days.
“Australasian Safari is a great event, and a great chance to catch up with old friends. Plus I want to win at least one more time!”
Winning this year’s Auto category would be a sweet victory for Garland, driving a new vehicle – a 2012 Isuzu D-Max – on a new course along the northern coast of Western Australia.
“It’s definitely the best car we’ve ever had. I hear the course could be more challenging and I hope it is.
“We want to win it, and we want to be the first diesel to win the Safari.”
In the past twelve months Garland and long-time co-driver Harry Suzuki have competed in The Silver City 600 in Broken Hill and the Finke Desert Race, and after Safari they are set to tackle Dakar again in early 2013.
Now in its 27th year, the Australasian Safari runs from 21 to 29 September 2012. This year the event is taking a new coastal route in Western Australia, travelling from Perth north to Geraldton, up the coast to tropical Carnarvon - the southern gateway to the Ningaloo World Heritage Area - and inland through the Gascoyne region, skirting around the Kennedy Ranges before heading south again to finish in Geraldton.
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