Denham extends lead, Lowndes into second

The 2010 Australasian Safari ventured into uncharted territory today, with strict servicing rules forcing drivers to pull back from all-out attack to keeping vehicles in one piece over some incredibly difficult terrain.

After 222.76km of competitive stages, the Mitsubishi Triton driving duo of Warren and Michael Denham strengthened their lead at the top of the standings, moving out to nearly a six-minute lead over Craig Lowndes/Kees Weel (Holden Colorado).

Today’s leg was part one of a two-day ‘marathon’, which prohibits major servicing between overnight stops. The only servicing allowed is 30 minutes in the Parc Ferme at the end of the second competitive stage.

Service crews can only provide the basics (fuel, air and oil filters, etc), and all other tools have to be carried by the rider or driver. All the spares must be carried in the car.

Lowndes was happy with the way his car performed, with conservation the name of the game.

“The truck went really well. I got told last night that we just had to get through these stages pretty much unscathed, so we’re not too concerned about time,” said Lowndes. “Our main priority, given Kees and I have to work on it ourselves, is to make sure we don’t have to do too much to it.

“We just cleaned the windscreen and that’s about all we did in service. The car is nice, it’s got some marks on the tyres but we’re in good shape for tomorrow.”

Des Harrington and Richard Harrington (Nissan Patrol) were the big movers today, slicing through the pack an amazing seven places to sit in third overall after day two. The pair won today's opening 211.90km stage.

Darren Green and Wayne Smith (Patrol) remain in fourth position.

“Parts of the course today suited us,” Darren said. “There was a big variation in the types of terrain. The rocky stuff suits us, but the sand is no good.

“We backed up a lot today and didn’t go flat out. We started off fast, but after about 70km in we hit a rock and buckled the wheel. That made us reassess and slow down.

“The stages are a lot more rugged than they have been before. It’s the hardest on the cars that we’ve ever seen.”

Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki (Isuzu D-MAX) are sitting in fifth outright, around 14 minutes behind the leaders.

“On the first stage today it was hard to find the track sometimes,” said Bruce. “But other than that we took it pretty easy. The second stage was easier. They were still fairly tight, but there were some long fast straights.

“We staked a tyre on a rocky section, and then just changed the air filter in the service but apart from that all we did was to clean the windscreen and have a look at everything.

“We’ll do the same tomorrow. There is still a lot of racing to go.”

Competitors will have to face a second marathon day tomorrow as the event travels from Leonora to the historic goldfields town of Coolgardie, once the third largest town in Western Australia.

In the other categories, Todd Smith leads moto over his team-mate Ben Grabham, and Paul Smith (Honda) is dominating quads.

At the time of writing, the results are still provisional.

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.