After two stages totaling 448km, the moto lead has been held by Jake Smith, with Warren Strange still in pursuit. Brother Vern Strange is out of podium contention after a mechanical issue forced him out of the second stage.
This brings Ivan Erceg to third with South African rider Brett Cummings, also on Honda, taking the Dakar Challenge lead.
The Dakar Challenge dream is over for Dutch rider Alex van Heertum. He came off his bike and was met within minutes by the medical team, flown to the Safari bivouac, and driven by the medics to Carnarvon Hospital and is in a stable condition. American rider Michael Johnson, also a Dakar Challenge contender, broke his arm after coming off his bike and has been flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Perth for treatment. The Dakar Challenge will now be fought between Brett Cummings, Melchior van Heertum and Guy Henley, Russell Scoble, Todd Smith and Vern Strange.
Jake Smith said had a good day and won the first stage and retained a 28-minute lead.
”I took it easy and didn’t have to push. My only drama was the battery died in the automatic scroll so I had to scroll it by hand for the last 250km. It was a fun stage, technical, and had everything – washaways, creeks…I enjoyed it.”
Rod Faggotter, who won today’s second stage, said he was riding for fun.
“I really enjoyed it. I liked the stages, there was a bit of everything. The tracks were open and flowing, it was tricky to navigate so I had to be on my game. The bike is going great. I came across a lot of cattle and had to ride around and through herds – it was just like mustering back home!”
Cummings was very happy with first position in the Dakar Challenge.
“I had a good first stage and in the second I got lost for 10 minutes and four bikes passed me but I eventually caught three of them,” he said.
Ryan Inghram who sits in sixth said it was a long day, hard and rocky.
“It got better as the day went on. You know yesterday how Don (My manager) said I had to ride the bike like I stole it? Well now it’s looking like it’s been stolen!”
Many riders enjoyed today’s long stages. Experienced Safari and Dakar campaigner David Schwarz said he had a great day, he was happy with his bike and hadn’t missed a beat.
Guy Henley said they were good racing stages. “They really flowed with some rough areas between – but they were noted in the navigation scrolls. It was technical and tough.”
Melchoir van Heertum said the first stage was the best ever. “There was nice scenery, it was good to navigate, the tracks were nice and it was also technical – quite difficult to ride – I like this style of riding.”
Quad
Paul Smith still comfortably holds the Quad lead with almost an hour to spare but he said today wasn’t without drama.
“50km into the last stage today I lost my front brakes, so I had to ride 250km with no brakes! I had a few sketchy moments, there were close calls with gutters and I couldn’t pull the quad up fast enough – I was having memories of last year when I broke my leg. Otherwise the stages were awesome and technical.”
Auto
Hederics and Weel in the Holden Colorado continue their comfortable lead of 47 minutes over Rob Herridge and Sam Hill’s Subaru Forrester, which continues to punch above its weight. Reg Owen and Russel Cairns have held their third place gained yesterday after a solid drive in the Nissan Patrol.
Hederics said they had a good, challenging day.
“There were a lot of gutters it was really rough and tough, we drove carefully to preserve the car, we backed off and consolidated.”
Geoff Olholm, who won the second stage today with navigator Gordon Trigg said you had to be on the ball the whole time today.
“It was a bit sweaty on that 300km stage! It was the best stage we have ever driven. It was tough – à la Dakar. It was a brilliant stage.”
Reg Owen said they enjoyed the day. “The first stage was nice and rough, I had to stop twice to bolt up the exhaust but other than that we had a good run. It was a long second stage and I’m knackered but it’s all good and the car is going great.
Tomorrow the Australasian Safari competition moves to Jimba Jimba Station, Winderie Station, Wooramel River, Hamelin on the coast between Carnarvon and Kalbarri and then south to the Murchison river finishing in Kalbarri. The 431km of competitive stages includes red dunes, fences, saltbush flats, river crossings and typical rough outback station roads.
The Australasian Safari, from 21 to 29 September 2012, is an eight-day endurance race that sees competitors travel mainly off-road tracks through the outback of Western Australia. The event is known as one of the toughest and most challenging motorsport events in the world. This year’s course is approximately 3500km through the mid west of Western Australia.
SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY
