FAGGOTTER WINS 2013 AUSTRALASIAN SAFARI

The 2013 Australasian Safari, held in Western Australia's Gascoyne region, attracted 43 entrants (including seven international riders) in the motorcycle class, including one game pair who chose to run an off-road sidecar outfit for the 3,200+km event!

There were also 5 quad bike starters amongst the 86 total competitors across four classes. Nine of the bike entrants were also entered in the 'Dakar Challenge' component of this year's Safari, where the top finisher would win an entry into the 2014 Dakar rally.

Faggotter, along with fellow Safari veterans, Matt Fish (KTM) and Todd Smith (Honda) were strong early, but piston problems with Todd and Jake Smith's Honda CRF 450Xs handed the advantage to the Yamaha rider, who had opened up a 20 minute gap on second-placed Fish by the end of Leg 4.

Tragedy marked the event on Leg 5 with the death of longtime competitor Ivan Erceg. The leg was cancelled in the wake of the accident, the circumstances of which were still being investigated at time of press.

On the penultimate leg, Faggotter began to ease off to ensure the overall victory, allowing Yamaha's Shane Diener and KTM's Lee Stephens, both Dakar Challenge entrants, to battle for leg wins.

At the end of seven gruelling days, Faggotter finished ahead of Fish and Diener to claim his first Safari victory in seven attempts - and the first for Yamaha since 1986 - while Diener led home Lee Stephens to win an entry into the 2014 Dakar rally.

2013 Australian Safari Top Ten - Moto Class

Entrant Bike Time
1. Rod FAGGOTTER Yamaha WR 450F 19h 11m 26s
2. Matt FISH KTM EXC 500 19h 37m 21s
3. Shane DIENER Yamaha WR 450F 19h 48m 27s
4. Lee STEPHENS KTM EXC 500 20h 16m 28s
5. Alister McRAE KTM EXC 500 20h 22m 41s
6. Russell SCOBLE Honda CRF 450X 21h 03m 13s
7. Ryan INGRAM KTM EXC 500 21h 48m 08s
8. Troy O'CONNOR KTM EXC 500 22h 09m 19s
9. Tim FOREMAN KTM EXC 500 22h 58m 26s
10. Stan WATT KTM EXC 500 23h 23m 50s