Australasian Safari 2009 - Day Four
Another day, another new leaderFormer V8 Supercar regular Paul Weel has moved into the lead of this year's Safari after the fourth day of competition. Driving a Holden Colorado and navigated by his father Kees, the pair has an almost 10-minute advantage on second placed Stephen Riley, the race's defending champion.
The 301km trek from Leonora to Laverton in the West Australian outback and passed the halfway mark for the event. But with so much difficult terrain to cover all the competitors know there is no time to relax.
Riley also knows there is still plenty of time left to overhaul Weel and claimed back-to-back wins.
"The roads in this area were some of the best I've driven on," Riley said.
Former leader Terry Conner dropped to third place but believes his older Nissan GQ Ute will be better suited to the rougher conditions ahead.
"We have been consistent since the first day," Conner said. "The conditions suit us, because our car is probably tougher than the others -- we have beam axles not independent suspension, which can make a difference in the rough."
Day Five will see the field cover 460km of competitive stages in the most difficult day yet. As well as rough and rocky roads the cars will also have to tackle sand dunes in the Great Victoria Desert.
Standings after Day Four
1 Paul Weel/Kees Weel, Holden Colorado, 13h 36m 16s
2 Stephen Riley/John Doble, Mitsubishi Pajero, +9m 13s
3 Terry Conner/Jodi Conner, Nissan GQ Ute, 20m 48s
4 Bruce Garland/Harry Suzuki, Isuzu DMAX, +27m 7s
5 Reg Owen/Russell Cairns, Nissan Patrol, +51m 42s
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