MOTORSPORT: Australasian Safari 2009 - Day Five
Defending champion takes control as Weel hits troubleOvernight leaders Paul and Kees Weel struck mechanical trouble on the fifth day of Safari, handing the lead to Steve Riley in his Mitsubishi Pajero. Riley and navigator John Doble won the race last year and their experience showed.
Riley, a dairy farmer by trade, has been patient throughout the event steadily working his way through the stages without concern for the lead. Once Weel was halted by his mechanical drama Riley continued his cautious approach, knowing there are still two gruelling days ahead.
"Today was a battle between the dairy farmer (Riley) and the Supercar driver (Weel)," Riley said. "We both challenged hard, but then Paul broke a transfer case and we were able to back off our pace a little bit from then on.
"The track was fascinating today and there were some great roads. It was tricky going through the old mine sites and I'm expecting another tough day tomorrow."
Terry and Jodi Conner stayed out of trouble and moved up to second while Australian Dakar veteran Bruce Garland is now in third place and still a chance of winning.
One driver not involved in the battle for the win is American Josh Hall. The former Baja 1000 winner is competing in this year's event in an invitational class driving a Hummer H2 SUT in preparation for a proper assault in 2010.
The off-road veteran is full of praise for the race, his rivals and the West Australian scenery.
"I've had a good day, although we took it easy on the first stage and ended up with two flats," Hall said. "After that I stood on the gas and did a lot better, so perhaps we just need to go flat out all the time.
"There was some beautiful scenery today, but we didn't have much time to admire it. These guys are terribly competitive, everybody in the field is smart, the top cars are beautifully built, professionally crewed and have top drivers."
Standings after Day Five
1 Stephen Riley/John Doble, Mitsubishi Pajero, 18h 59m 11s
2 Terry Conner/Jodi Conner, Nissan GQ Ute, +10m 23s
3 Bruce Garland/Harry Suzuki, Isuzu DMAX, +17m 54s
4 Reg Owen/Russell Cairns, Nissan Patrol, +1h 09m 06s
5 Beau Robinson/Dieter Allen, Mitsubishi Pajero, +1h 41m 35s
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