Grabham seizes lead on dramatic day one

The 2010 Australasian Safari has got off to a dramatic start in Western Australia, with leading moto contender AJ Roberts breaking his wrist after an altercation with fellow top gun Todd Smith.

Two-time Safari champion Ben Grabham (KTM 530 EXC) leads the overall standings after day one, over one minute ahead of reigning title holder Jacob Smith (Honda CRF450X). Yamaha’s Rod Faggotter is third after pushing hard all day on his WR450F.

“I had a good day, didn’t find anything tricky and just tried to keep my riding consistent,” Grabham said.

“After Todd dropped back and AJ was out, I found myself in the lead after the first stage, which I didn’t really want to do as I haven’t navigated in a race for a year or so.

“The last stage was really tricky to navigate with so many shrubs and overhanging branches, but I knew I just had to take my time.”

Grabham won the two of today’s three stages, and Jacob the other. Today’s route took riders from Southern Cross to Leonora, with the terrain serving up a real cocktail -- anthills, large sections of badly rutted dirt, salt lakes and a crossing of the Trans Australian Railway.

Today’s hard luck story certainly goes to the luckless Roberts, whose Australasian Safari curse continues – but this time it wasn’t the natural elements conspiring against him.

A navigation error by Todd Smith (530EXC) was the catalyst behind the bust-up with Roberts.

And while Todd dodged a bullet and was able to continue, albeit nursing a sore shoulder, Roberts wasn’t so fortunate. The front wheel on his CRF450X was left badly damaged and, on an even sourer note, the two-time national off-road champion was left nursing a broken wrist.

He's now being treated at a Kalgoorlie Hospital, with his 2010 Safari campaign now officially over before it really began. The latest incident follows on from last year’s event when he was forced to retire after sustaining a shoulder injury.

Roberts completed yesterday’s prologue in second place behind Todd Smith, and one place ahead of Grabham.

The coming together between Todd Smith and Roberts left the door ajar for Grabham to seize the Safari initiative.

He duly obliged, and is overall lead now sits at one minute and 19 seconds (1:19) over Jacob Smith. Faggotter is a further 11 seconds behind, followed by Shane Diener (KTM 690 Enduro), Todd Smith and Mathew Fish (530EXC).

The top six riders have already put a huge gulf between themselves and the rest of the field, with Brazilian star Jose Rodrigues Filho (Husaberg FE570) leading the chasing pack.

Tomorrow’s 483km leg two will start and finish in Leonara, with 423km of that distance in competitive stages.

Defending champion Jacob Smith was another to strike some problems on day one, and he was forced to remove his tank and seat to fix an oil leak on his tappet cover during the opening stage.

The roving trackside repairs cost him five minutes, but his response was emphatic with victory in stage two to get his Safari immediately back on track.

He then, like all the riders, had trouble forging a path through the badly overgrown tracks in the third and final stage.

“I had a really tough day, and had trouble before I’d even started the first stage with that oil leak, but at least I’ve made it back,” said Jacob.

Attrition has already started to bite in the moto class, with Roberts now joined on the sidelines by four other riders, including top Western Australian rider Warren Strange (CRF450X).

Leading the quads is Colin Lawson on his Can Am Renegade 800, finishing less than a minute in front of Paul Smith on his Honda TRX700XX.

“Out of all three years, today had everything, but it was 30km of hell at the end trying to navigate through the bush,” said Smith, who finished second in last year’s Safari. “I made it through and had an awesome day.”

In the auto division, V8 Suipercar hero Craig Lowndes (Holden Colorado) has made a brilliant start to his Safari campaign, and the rookie already leads by nearly nine minutes over the Isuzu DMAX of Bruce Garland.

Check out the official Australasian Safari site for more information on the event, and click on the following link to view the provisional results and current standings after stage six..

And see below for the first two episodes of Safari TV.