Smith becomes youngest ever Safari winner
And third in a row for HondaTwenty-year-old Condobolin (NSW) rider, Jacob Smith, has become the youngest ever winner of the Australasian Safari, with the seven-day event finishing in Kalgoorlie (WA) on Saturday.
Riding a Honda CRF450X, Smith finished the 3771km marathon 14 minutes and 18 seconds ahead of his older brother, Todd Smith (KTM). Defending champion, Ben Grabham (KTM) was third, three minutes 30 seconds further back.
Smith led for 16 of the 19 safari special stages.
“It’s fantastic to beat to Ben (Grabham) as he’s the best rider in Australia,” Smith said. “Any time you can beat him it’s a good achievement. It’s my third safari, so it’s third time lucky – I was second in 2007, and had an engine failure last year.”
“I always race to win, I don’t do it for second, but it was such a strong field it was always going to be tough. But after the first few days I knew I could do it.”
Having his 24-year old brother in second place was an added bonus.
“We work together, even though we’re on different teams, and we support each other,” Jacob said. “We always wanted to be 1-2; it was just a case of who was first and who was second.”
Anything but a full-time professional rider, Smith is back at work on this morning, less than 48 hours after his historic victory.
Honda has now won three successive Australasian Safaris, with Smith continuing on from Grabham’s towering victories in 2007-2008.
KTM won the safari from 2000-2003 thanks to the late Andy Caldecott, and the event wasn’t held from 2004-2006.
Fourth-placed Ivan Erceg was the first Western Australian rider home on his KTM, finishing over 30 minutes clear of South Australian David Schwarz on a Husaberg.
Czech Republic’s Josef Machacek (Yamaha) easily won the quad bike category in his first attempt. The five-time Dakar Rally winner showed his skill and experience to head home Victorian Paul Smith (Can-Am) and his countryman, Martin Plechaty (Borile Bory).
Leongatha (Vic) dairy farmer, Steve Riley, claimed his second safari auto win in the same Mitsubishi Pajero that he drove to victory in 2008.
Click the following link for final standings in the moto division of the 2009 Australasian Safari.
Click the following link for final standings in the quad division of the 2009 Australasian Safari.
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