Dakar 2013: Finish

The Final Moments

The last moments of the 2013 Dakar saw all the competitors and service crew converge at the final podium in Santiago, Chile. After years of preparation by teams and competitors the final moments of crossing the finish line was a welcome relief and sense of accomplishment for all concerned. The Dakar is the ultimate test for competitors, machinery and support crews.

GHR Honda had four out of five riders complete the ultimate test. 36,000 kilometres of racing completed by the team. 21,000 kilometres of driving by the service crews. Everything about Dakar is a test of planning and execution.  Congratulations to Paul Smith, Warren Strange, Todd Smith and Brett Cummings for their outstanding achievments in this years Dakar. GHR would like to take this opportunity to thank all the support crew on the event: Simon Wade, Rob Ingram, Jake Young, Pete Wilhelms, Vern Strange, Jamie Morgan, Toin, Arja Boon and let’s not forget Glen Grundy for helping out after his mechanical problems took him out of the race! These guys and gal are the unsung hero’s at times working through the night to be able to deliver machines that are capable of running the 36,000 kilometres in some of the harshest environments on the planet. A BIG THANK YOU to you all.

The GHR bikes are the result of years of development, this years Dakar saw the team turn up with many new parts; fairings, towers, bash plates, fuel tanks; all designed and developed in Australia. To all our team sponsors, especially those who did so much R&D work; a MASSIVE THANK YOU also! The GHR Honda’s were the highest placed Honda rental bikes in the event at only their second attempt with many parts that were the first attempt at Dakar. GHR also turned up with a new quad with many Australian products, finished 7th Outright and even won a stage.

To all our sponsors and all the people who helped along the way, thank you for your input, advice and support. The products used on our bikes and quad and in our team infrastructure really must work and after so many kilometres all products proved themselves.

 GHR would also like to take the opportunity to thank Honda Australia for their continued support, for without their involvement the team would not exist.

We would also like to thank all the wives/girlfriends/partners and family of all involved for keeping the home fires burning. And a rather large THANK YOU to Mike Chmiel for all his work with the GHR Blog – especially answering Glenn’s early morning phone calls!  Dakar planning for 2014 is already underway… Once again thank you to everyone involved and we look forward to defending our title at the Condo 750 in April.

GHR final placings: MOTO
24th #131 – STRANGE Warren (AUS)
34th #156 – SMITH Todd (AUS)
43rd #089 – CUMMINGS Brett (ZAF)

GHR final placings: QUAD
7th #274 – SMITH Paul (AUS)

Quad rider Paul Smith on the podium.

Dakar 2013 Finishers Medal.

Some of the all important crew L-R: Simon, Rob, Pete, Jake and Toin.

Brett Cummings on the podium with Glen Grundy.

Todd Smith at the finish line.

On the podium with Warren Strange.