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 | Australasian Safari: "What they said" after 490 km SS02 Kalballi-Carnarvon.
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It was a long, hard and eventful day on Leg 2 of "Australasian Safari" with 490 km of competitive stages through coastal station country from Kalbarri to Carnarvon, where competing to finish the day and not for a fast time was the order of the day.
This tactic saw Safari stalwarts Geoff Olholm in the Mitsubishi Pajero and John Hederics in the Holden Colorado finish first and second fastest and Olholm's Cairns Coconut Racing Team taking the overall auto lead by nearly four minutes.
Jake Smith on a 2012 Honda CRF450X finished fastest in the motos for a second day in a row. He also took the cautious approach, putting him nearly 16 minutes ahead of nearest rivals Matt Fish on a 2012 KTM 500EXC and Rod Faggotter on the 2012 Yamaha WR450F.
Geoff Olholm, Mitsubishi Pajero: "We started the second stage and got in front of John Hederics, we got lost for about 30 seconds and then he got in front of us and we were chasing each other for a while, it was good fun. The car is going great and we didn't have any problems. We are not pushing too hard."
Bruce Garland, Isuzu D-Max Diesel: "We had a bit of a team discussion about it, and decided we had to withdraw. It's my 16th Safari and only the second time I've DNF'd so I really don't like pulling out.
Normally we'd try to fix it and keep going, but the sad fact is that Dakar has to be the priority. The car is due to be on a boat and heading overseas in 10 days' time and we couldn't risk a half-repair job and end up doing more damage.
Obviously it's disappointing, beyond disappointing. We love this event and we wanted a good result. We're still helping the other D-MAX crews so we're not just packing up our tents and disappearing, but we'll work everything out tonight."
Jake Smith, Honda CRF 450X: "I had a good day, I was making sure I was looking after myself and the bike. Despite the long day I feel good and fresh."
Matthew Fish, KTM 500EXC: "I had a really rough day, I had a crash early in the first leg and lost a bit of time and am a bit sore but ready and raring to go tomorrow."
Vernon Strange, Yamaha WRF450: "I had a great day today it was like a dream, the bike is all good. I started today in seventh and finished in fourth so I'm looking forward to tomorrow because it's similar country to the Gascoyne Dash which I've won four times."
Glenn Grundy, Honda CRF450: "It was a lot of work for a Monday! There were a lot of interesting features, lots of gates, nice ocean views and long sandy drags."
2012/09/25 | 08:34 CET | ARTICLE: MR/HS/PITTAWAY
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