The good news: Aussies qualify for Erzberg Rodeo

The above tells a familiar story about the annual Erzberg Rodeo extreme enduro event in Austria, where qualification for the torture test is a major feat in itself, and finishing just about guarantees deity status.

And so it was again in this year's event, with only 21 of the 500 qualifiers completing the final part of the Erzberg Enduro, the Red Bull Hare Scramble.

Unfortunbely, there wasn't an Aussie among the 21 finishers, with Dean Porter - as he also did in 2008 - the best performer by passing through 14 of the 20 checkpoints.

That was still good enough for 51st in the overall classification, ahead of fellow Aussie KTM riders Martin Orchard (144), Dean Minichillo (179) and teenager Travis Cooper (181).

Orchard made it through nine checkpoints, with Minichillo and Cooper both out of play after eight.

The Aussie quartet can still take some comfort in qualifying, which saw the original 1300 entrants culled to just 500.

The winner for the third year in succession was KTM's Taddy Blazusiak, with the 26-year-old Polish rider defeating British trial gun Graham Jarvis (Sherco) by over 30 minutes. Third was the BMW G 450 X of Andreas Lettenbichler.

New Zealanders Rory Mead (Yamaha) and Chris Burch (KTM) were revelations in sixth and eighth respectively.

In all, riders from 11 countries were among the 21 finishers, with Great Britain accounting for five of them.

For full results in the event, click here.