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NEWS
Australasian Safari: Jake Smith still leads
And he increased his lead to 16 minutes after nearly 500km of special stages. Matthew Fish and Rod Faggotter are second and thirdIt was a long, hard and eventful day on leg two of the 2012 Australasian Safari, with 491km of competitive stages through coastal station country from Kalbarri to Carnarvon.
Jake Smith on his Honda CRF450X was again the pacesetter in the Moto division, and he’s now nearly 16 minutes ahead of nearest rival Matt Fish (KTM 500EXC), with and Rod Faggotter (Yamaha WR450F) third.
“I had a good day. I was looking after myself and the bike. Despite the long day I feel good and fresh,” Smith, the 2010 Safari winner, said.
The day wasn’t so smooth for others including Fish, who lost time in the first stage.
“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,” Fish said.
Leading light Shane Diener (Yamaha), who was second after leg one, is now out of the event with a knee injury.
Leading the Quads is Paul Smith (Honda) with a 28-minute lead over Heath Young (KTM).
In the Auto division, Safari stalwarts Geoff Olholm (Mitsubishi Pajero) and John Hederics (Holden Colorado) were first and second in leg two, with Olholm moving into the overall lead by nearly four minutes.
“We started the second stage and got in front of Hedgie (John Hederics). We then 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,” said Olholm.
“The car is going great and we didn’t have any problems. We are not pushing too hard.”
Bruce Garland was not so lucky. He clipped a fence post, and the damage was so bad on his Isuzu D-Max that he had to withdraw from the event.
Leg three (September 25) will see competitors tackling three stages and 410km through a number of stations, including Quobba and Gnaraloo, and to the tip of the Ningaloo Reef where there will be river crossings, stunning beach runs, sand dunes and twisting station tracks.
For more information on Australasian Safari and full results visit www.australasiansafari.com.au. Updates are available on Facebook and Twitter at @austsafari and check out last year’s event on our YouTube channel – AustralasianSafari.
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Written byBikesales Staff
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