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GHR Honda Team Site & Blog
Safari 2012 – final testing
Sep 20th
Yesterday the most of the riders finalised their suspension settings and ergonomics. American rider Mike Johnson flew in late yesterday and will make is final settings before scrutineering this afternoon Perth time.
Australasian Safari 2012 – event build up
Sep 20th
This week sees the GHR Honda team back in Western Australia making final preparations to defend their title in the 3000km 2012 Australasian Safari. The 7 day navigational event is the toughest motorsport event in the Asia Pacific Region and celebrates it’s 27th anniversary this year with a changed route that commences and concludes in Geraldton. Competitors will battle on new competitive sections held close to the coast for two days before turning inland for some trademark high speed outback running.
Aiming for a 6th outright victory in the bike class, the GHR Honda team is comprised of 7 Honda CRF450X motorcycles, one TRX700XX quad and one buggy. Team entrants include three South Africans, one American and a total of five competitors in training for the 2013 Dakar Rally. Brothers and key team riders Todd and Jacob Smith are both in fine form and each will be vying for a second personal victory in this ‘Dakar Down Under’. West Australian local and Safari veteran Warren Strange will also be racing hard on his CRF450X based GHR 2013 Dakar bike. Victorian quad rider and previous class winner Paul Smith will ride the team’s first quad entry.
Todd and Jacob Smith - pre-event testing
Jacob Smith – comments:
“Last Safari I came home injured. In hindsight I was probably doing too much too soon but 3 weeks after the race I had an operation on my foot to sort things out. It went very well and I was back training as usual soon after. The only hitch was I’d pull up sore very quickly. A day of waterskiing or pre-running at Finke would leave me struggling to walk on it. But in the last 3 or 4 months my training has been structured to minimise impact and I’m back feeling great. Heaps of cycling, lots of gym work focussed on strength and plenty of cardio work.”
“Safari is all about putting yourself in a position to win it, but picking the right moment to do it. This year Todd and I are both approaching the race with the same mentality as we had last year. If we can get up the front in the prologue and then stay out of trouble for a few days then we’re on track for good things. Todd put himself in the right position on Day 3 last year and then kept it clean. That’s how this race works. Compared to Todd I’ve struggled a bit with form, but the results for the team have been brilliant, with one-three at Condo and one-two at Yellow Mountain – can’t ask for more than that!”
Jacob Smith - pre-event testing
“It’s exciting to be going to some different places in 2012. Over the last couple of events we’ve seen the same bivouacs and some of the tracks have become familiar. Safari was always about an adventure so I’m looking forward mine even if we don’t stop to look at the scenery too often.”
Todd Smith – comments:
“So far this year has unfolded much the same way as last year. I haven’t had as much training time as Jake but that’s the reality of my job. I do as much as I can when I’m not working. Normally that means I’m on the bike once a week and same with the cycling. Some weekends I get to ride too. I haven’t been to the gym for a while but plenty of hours at work keep me fit even though it’s not motorcycle specific training.”
“My form coming off last year’s Safari win has been excellent. Condo and Yellow Mountain were excellent results and I came away with third at Finke. The background development for the team has been ongoing and the testing a couple of weeks back left us both with a sense of confidence. They always feel good and Simon (Wade) does an amazing job building them. We know we can come over here, just get on the bikes and do well.”
Todd Smith - pre-event testing
“The change in route this year will be interesting because we’re going somewhere new. We’re expecting new terrain with plenty of sand and rock until we get to Carnarvon, then we hit typical WA outback country which is always fast. I’m not sure how the navigation will unfold up near Carnarvon since it’s pretty open and flat from what I can see. The first two days will be full of sand and rock.”
Glenn Hoffmann – general comments:
“We’ve been busy as always on development even though the results last Safari meant we couldn’t fault the product. However, when we stand back and look at what we’ve built this year they look so compact and slim. It’s a really good thing. Our most recent testing showed both Todd and Jacob were very comfortable with the package straight away. The bikes turn beautifully and the corner speed they can carry is impressive. We’re all hoping for good things.”
The event’s ceremonial start will be held on Friday 21 September in Hillarys Boat Harbour and the field embark on the trip to Geraldton the following morning. On Saturday afternoon the prologue will determine Sunday’s Leg 1 start order departing from Carnarvon.
2012 Condo 750
Apr 6th
GHR TRX700XX
To Australian motor sport fanatics the Easter break brings time off from work and an opportunity to break out the big toys. For rally fans specifically, Easter means the biggest navigational rally event in the NSW race calendar – the 800km Condo 750.
The GHR crew are making final preparations for event scrutineering this morning, including two of the four wheeled variety. This year’s Condo will see the race debut of the GHR Honda TRX700XX quad ridden by seasoned Victorian quad competitor Paul Smith. Team owner Glenn Hoffmann will also be donning the race gear in his V8 powered Nissan Patrol ute.
Scrutineering commences at 11.00am this morning and the first vehicle starts the race prologue at 3.30pm.
More to come later in the day.
Todd Smith, Paul Smith & Jacob Smith
GHR Honda Moto Crew - Todd Smith, Simon Wade & Jacob Smith
GHR Honda Quad Crew - Peter Wilhelms, Rob Ingram and Paul Smith
Season’s Greetings from GHR
Jan 8th
Hello to all our Family, Friends, Sponsors and Supporters .
GHR would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone well over the festive season, especially all the riders going to the 2012 Dakar Rally.
As you will have already noticed, GHR are not participating in the 2012 Dakar because we have been busy building the new bike.
We would like to thank everybody who has been working on this project, especially Simon for his tireless efforts in putting together a jigsaw of new parts, Robin and his crew at Safari Tanks, Brian and his crew at Force Accessories and Brent and Helen at Incite Graphics for their sleepless nights getting the graphics ready for the recent Motorcycle show.
Honda Australia had both Safari 1st and 2nd Outright bikes and the Dakar prototype bike on the stand at the Motorcycle show. Following the MC show the bikes were then taken to the local Colo Vale Public School Fair, where 150 kids had their photos taken on the bikes and money raised going back to the school. For 2012 GHR will be attending the Condo 750, Finke Desert Race, Hattah Desert Race and the Australasian Safari officially for Honda Australia.
Colo Vale Public School Principal on Dakar prototype
GHR will also be attending the 2013 Dakar Rally in South America with private clients and hope to raise the money to be able to take both Jake and Todd Smith.
We expand into the building next door in January and would like to take the opportunity to welcome Rob Ingram on board full time. Rob has been on many Safaris with the team and will be busy fabricating the new transporters which we aim to use throughout the race year home and abroad.
We’d like to thank all the crew for their extra efforts on Safari this year – we could not have done it without you. 1 and 2 outright at the end of every day against Australia and the world’s best is a fitting result of the ability and effort of you all.
To all our clients who challenged themselves at events with us this year, we thank you and look forward to further adventures together. GHR Honda would like to thank you for your continued support and look forward to an even bigger and better 2012.
GHR Honda at the Motorcycle Show
Nov 25th
GHR Honda CRF450X Rallye and victorious 2011 GHR Safari bikes
Come and see the new GHR Honda CRF450X Rallye bike under development for the 2013 Dakar Rally campaign, as well as the Smith Brothers’ world beating bikes from the 2011 Australasian Safari on display at the Sydney Motorcycle Show this weekend.
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30.9.2011 – Safari Leg 7 – Victory!
Oct 3rd
GHR Honda rider Todd Smith’s early stranglehold on the Australasian Safari proved to be decisive as he claimed his first outright victory in the race on Friday 30 September in Kalgoorlie. Leading the contest from day one, Todd had ridden a calculated race and enjoyed a trouble free run aboard his GHR developed CRF450X to finish with a 20 minute lead. His younger brother Jacob Smith finished in second place overall to make it the best possible combination for the GHR, for Honda and for the Condobolin Smith family.
Rider comments:
Todd Smith: “It feels great to finally be on top. I’ve learned a lot in the last two years and most of all you have to start well to finish well in this race. I put my head down and rode smart in the first two stages to lead by a few minutes. From there I rode just hard enough to stay in front but with enough care to stay safe. My body feels 100% after this one, whereas every other year I’ve gone home with injuries. This has been a fairytale podium. To have my little brother Jacob in second and our good mate Rod Faggotter in third, I just couldn’t have asked for more!”
Jacob Smith: “Obviously I race to win and I would have liked to win this time, but it was Todd’s turn this year – he rode an immaculate race. All the work that I put in on and off the bike this year has paid dividends. Rod (Faggotter) joked when he and I were at the start line on Leg 2 behind Todd that it would be brilliant if we finished in this order. I would have liked it if some of the other title contenders made it to the end, but we know that this race is rarely won on in the last day or two. The Safari is normally won in the first four days so I can easily say that Todd put himself in the perfect position early on and made all the right choices from that point onwards. I’m immensely proud of the way he ran it and that we could go one-two. With Rod in third, I really couldn’t share this with two finer blokes. After everything that has happened with passing of Glenn Hoffmann’s father, there’s no better way to give him, his family and the GHR crew a lift.”
Comment from Glenn Hoffmann:
“This month has been an emotional roller coaster for my family. However, in terms of the team this result has been really, really good for everyone. The boys controlled this race from the very beginning and I saw a level of maturity that shows just how much they have grown. They played the game but always kept some in reserve, and they worked together. I’d like to point out that everyone did this without me. Obviously I wasn’t there, but this result has proven that I don’t need to be. They all knew what they had to do and they followed through with it perfectly. I’d spoken to Jake Young three weeks before and I had asked him to be team manager in anticipation of things happening at home so when the time came I left town not at all concerned. My wife Linda and I do so much work on this before the event, but once it’s actually started I’m the least important person. That’s the way we’ve set it up – the mechanics all know their roles. As part of the growth planned for this company I do need to step back and rely on my crew, so to have everything work so well was no surprise. With this core group, if we can get the funding then there is huge potential for us overseas.”
GHR rider placings at race end:
1st – #2 Todd Smith – 27:35:27
2nd – #6 Jacob Smith – 27:55:31
10th – #27 David Geeves – 31:01:12
13th – #35 Charlie Ball – 33:51:06
20th – #40 Stuart Bowen – 37:22:32
21st – #25 Don Lark – 37:38:40
29.9.11 – Safari 2011 leg 6 wrap up
Sep 29th
As the sun sets on the penultimate leg of the 2011 Australasian Safari, GHR Honda riders Todd and Jacob Smith are still dominating the event on their CRF450X bikes developed in Mittagong, NSW.
Most of the other likely challengers have been beset by mechanical failure or injury, including Dakar Rally winner Cyril Despres who retired from the race this afternoon having sustained a lacerated foot. While Jacob Smith set the fastest time in the event prologue, it is his older brother who finished on top of the rankings for Leg 1 and has since maintained a sound lead through attentive navigation and judicious tactics.
Today’s leg consisted of two selective stages. SS12 Sturt Meadows I, a 236.42 km section which included a series of derelict roads and an optional splash and dash refuel. The 141.12km long SS13 Sturt Meadows II varied between roach station tracks and numerous fast flowing sections, finishing with a salt lake crossing.
Rider comments:
Todd Smith: “This morning I rode just to get through SS12 but I was surprised – I wasn’t actually much slower. When I saw the gap I had I backed off even more. Tomorrow if nothing goes wrong with the bike I should be right. I’m still really enjoying myself but I do find it tricky to walk that fine line between being careful and being too slow without the pressure.”
Jacob Smith: “Today we were just in a holding pattern. It was about consolidation, looking after the bike and getting it to the end. By this stage, everything hurts and there’s absolutely no use in binning it on the last days in pursuit of a few more minutes.”
Overall top 5 at end of Leg 6:
1st – #2 Todd Smith – 25:18:43
2nd – #6 Jacob Smith – 25:36:26
3rd – #56 Rod Faggotter – 26:14:02
4th – #72 Damien Grabham – 27:10:53
5th – #41 Ben Williams – 27:56:04
Other GHR riders:
10th – #27 David Geeves – 29:30:43
13th – #35 Charlie Ball – 31:07:46
14th – #25 Don Lark – 31:44:18
22nd – #40 Stuart Bowen – 34:47:01
29.9.11 – Safari 2011 Leg 6 – update #2
Sep 29th
Todd Smith, Shane Dieter and Jacob Smith have filed past the second spectator point, with both GHR riders appearing to take it easy through the gate and past the spectators. Cyril Despres appears to be out of the race and has ridden past on the main road behind the parked cars, presumably headed back to Leonora.
29.9.11 – Safari 2011 Leg 6 – update
Sep 29th
We are currently sitting at the second of the spectator points for the day overlooking a surrounded by paddocks carpeted with yellow flowers. We watched the whole bike field and the first few cars at the first point about 35km from Leonora. The Smith boys looked in fine form as they rounded the gates and took off down the fence line, and all other GHR riders came through cleanly.
Glen Grundy flew out to Kalgoorlie this morning after a stay in hospital overnight. He will be assessed and a course of action planned. We hope he can at least stay in Kalgoorlie to see the finish of the event.
The day has claimed at least one bike through mechanical failure already. We’ll post an update as soon as the bikes come through here.
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