GHR Honda Team Site & Blog
Australasian Safari 2013
Safari 2013 – Leg 1 21.9.2013
Sep 22nd
LEG 1 – Setting the scene for a week of off-road action
It was a day of highlights and lowlights for Leg 1 of the Australasian Safari. Sand traps, tricky twisting navigation and rugged terrain in three stages in and around Northampton and Kalbarri in Western Australia.
Last year’s moto winner Jake Smith had his plans for a follow-up Safari victory shattered in the last portion of Leg 1. After winning both the first and second stages by nearly a minute, engine failure in the last stage forced him to stop. Brother and former Safari winner Todd Smith finished the Leg in second place, and said despite a slow start he had finished well. “The first stage was really sandy and soft and the front wheel sunk. I came off and it took me a little while to get my flow back. Later on I had to slow down for some sheep but the rest of the ride was smooth.” He starts 455 km of Leg 2 second on the road.
GHR standings at end of Leg 1
2nd place: #4 SMITH, Todd – 02:58:34
16th place: #8 BALL, Charlie – 03:30:40
30th place: #14 McDONALD, John – 04:04:23
Leg 2 promises to be another testing day for the moto field. Three selectives cover a wide variety of terrain, with tight sections interspersed between flat-out fence line dashes.
SS2/1 Kalbarri – 230.00km: Opens with 50km of defined coastal tracks over mixed terrain, heading north through Murchison Station before turning inland. Fence line tracks cut into low scrub pass through Nerrin Nerrin and Coburn Stations. 25 km of the “Snake Road” leads to the Hamelin Service Area.
SS2/2 Gladstone – 110.89km: Low lying bay country between Hamelin Pool and the North West Coastal Highway hosts SS2/2. Highly variable tracks – sandy in places, rough and rocky elsewhere and occasionally swampy – cross Hamelin, Carbla, Yaringa and Wooramel Stations.
SS2/3 Jimba Jimba – 113.77km: The last selective starts on Pimbee Station with a narrow tight rally road heading east towards the old Pimbee Homestead site. The course then turns northwards along a twisty rally road, deviates east briefly and turns north once more into dune country. The stage closes with a mixed bag of tight twisty tracks, narrow fence tracks and low creek country.
SAFARI 2013 – Prologue 20.9.2013
Sep 21st
The 2013 Australasian Safari is now underway!
The Jurien Bay prologue held yesterday was a short 7km sprint through gravel rally roads leading into winding, sandy coastal tracks and a dash along the water’s edge. While barely 6 minutes into the 3200km event, GHR Honda team mates Todd and Jacob Smith have secured second and third in the start order for the 270km of racing on Day 1 between Northampton and Kalbarri.
Todd Smith, who finished 34th in Dakar this year said today’s racing was good for him. “It just wasn’t really long enough to get going. The bike feels great, and the body feels good.”
Last year’s moto winner Jake Smith said it was all good for him out there today. “I’m looking forward to this week, I’m aiming to win, I don’t come to Safari to come second,” he said.
Day 1 opens with more coastal terrain on SS1/1 Oakabella routed through 23.26km of mixed sand and rocks. Straight away, competitors have been promised challenging navigation. SS1/2 Whelarra returns to a stage run in the 2012 event. It is a fast, open selective of 104.85km through farm country. Firmer tracks will allow the riders to hit their straps as speeds increase. The final selective stage SS1/3 Murchison Off Road Yandi starts where 2012 finished. The 142.82km of rugged terrain are loaded with cautions amongst the rough tracks of Yandi, Coolcalalaya and Mary Springs Stations. Having crossed the Murchison River, the competitors head to the one night bivouac in beautiful Kalbarri, 592 north of Perth.
Prologue standings:
2nd place: #4 SMITH, Todd – 06:15
3rd place: #1 SMITH, Jake – 06:23
17th place: #8 BALL, Charlie – 06:54
26th place: #14 McDONALD, John – 07:46
#1 – Jacob Smith, 2013 Australasian Safari Prologue. Photo: Sabine Albers
#1 – Jacob Smith, 2013 Australasian Safari Prologue. Photo: Sabine Albers
AUSTRALASIAN SAFARI 2013 – pre-event build up
Sep 19th
GHR Honda riders all ready to defend Safari Title
The Australasian Safari is an annual off-road rally for motorbikes, four-wheel drives, side by sides, and quad bikes set in outback Western Australia. This extreme motorsport event attracts some of the best competitors from around the globe. Considered Australia’s answer to Dakar, it is renowned as one of the toughest and most challenging motorsport events in the world.
GHR Honda riders Jacob and Todd Smith will be riding their CRF450X’s again chasing the outright victory. The Honda brothers went 1st and 2nd Outright at the Condo 750 rally and then backed it up with 1st and 2nd Outright on their CRF450R’s at Finke. For this cross country rally they are back on their CRF450X’s and hope to replicate previous Safari results of 1st and 2nd outright.
Today is the ceremonial start and Friday will see the riders attack Prologue. The ceremonial start and Safari show will be held at Wanneroo show grounds from 4-9pm. Competitors will depart from Perth and head north to Geraldton, up into the Gascoyne region, around the Kennedy Ranges before heading out to tropical Carnarvon. Turning south again the course moves through Kalbarri before finishing in Geraldton on the 27th of September. The event covers approximately 3000km of Western Australian terrain. After the rave reviews and success of 2012’s course, this year’s Safari will again feature some spectacular coastal Stages along WA’s Coral Coast.
The team recently held a test session on the east coast before all the infrastructure was shipped across to Perth. Team manager Glenn Hoffmann commented, “Testing went well and Simon has again done a great job with the bikes. The boys are very happy with their Honda 450X’s and now that they are passed scrutineering it is just a waiting game to get the race really started.” When asked who he thought would win he added, “Yamaha and KTM have strong rider line-ups and there is even a Aprilla this year. However Jacob and Todd have been swapping Outright wins in the desert all year long on both their GHR Honda 450R’s and 450X’s – so hopefully it is one of the boys. The Safari is a very cruel race to man and machine and I think the person who is best prepared and has the least downtime will do well. As a race Dad you cant play favourites, but obviously I hope the winner is on a Honda and surname is Smith!”.
The boys will once again be joined by WA Honda riders Charlie Ball and John McDonald. Two years ago Charlie rode with GHR to a top ten finish and after taking a supported ride at Finke this year, John McDonald is ready to tackle the Safari challenge. Keep up to date with their progress via GHR.
For Honda the Safari is another historic desert race. With more wins at the Safari than all other manufacturers combined, Honda is once again aiming to prove the reliability and performance reputation it has earned over decades in the desert. Having been aligned with GHR for the last ten years on Safari, the manufacturer backed team has only lost the rally once and has even beaten five time Dakar winner Cyril Depress on his works machine.
The team would like to thank all the staff, sponsors, family and friends of GHR, for without their help this effort would not be possible. It is a monumental effort to get to the start line but to keep winning year after year in this rally environment – at times against the worlds best – is a credit to everyone involved.
Good luck and a safe trip to all on Safari.
Keep up to date via GHR Honda http://ghrhonda.dirtbike.com.au Honda Facebook site – https://www.facebook.com/HondaMotorcyclesAustralia
Visitor Comments