MOTORSPORT: Australasian Safari - Finish

The 2013 Australasian Safari has been run and won, with the spoils going to Queenslanders.

Both the winning HiLux team of Geoff Olholm and Gordon Trigg, and the Yamaha-mounted Rod Faggotter hail from the sunshine state. Faggotter's win in the Moto section of the event was the first occasion a Yamaha had won since 1986 – 27 years ago. Olholm and Trigg proved the Toyota's 'unbreakable' durability throughout the event, winning seven of the 16 stages.

Heath Young was riding the leading Quad at the end of the event, barely a minute ahead of second-placed John Maragozidis. Michael Heuchan took his Polaris side-by-side to victory with a massive margin of 12  hours.

For the final day the event comprised three distinct competitive stages that together comprised a beach run south of Kalbarri – complete with steep descents to the sand – and rocky tracks through sheep country. Vehicles and their riders/crews finished on the foreshore at Geraldton, with moto riders forming a guard of honour for Ivan Erceg, the rider who died during the event.
        

Autos
The first three crews on the road had not changed from the day before, with Olholm and Trigg posting the fastest outright time ahead of Dave McShane and Bill Hayes in their HiLux-based buggy and the father and son team of Andrew and David Travis.

"It's been a long time coming – I feel fantastic, it's a great feeling for the team, my navigator Gordon, my wife Jenny at home and everyone, it's been a whole team effort," said Geoff Olholm. "We've had a perfect run in a perfect car."

McShane had failed to finish last year, so he was over the moon at finishing in 2013, let alone coming second.

"I'm really happy to be here," he said. "I've entered in Safari twice before – navigating in 2001 and driving last year but we didn't make it to the last day. It was a tough event, and today I was pushing to try to bridge the gap. I knew Geoff would try to take it easy, today's stages were tough, it was quite scenic but I was a bit too busy to look at it."

If McShane's recounting of the final day lacked detail, his co-driver Hayes balanced that out.

"We missed the junction, the gate was buried in the grass and we missed it, we went through a creek, the trip meter stopped working, then we lost intercom and we couldn't talk to each other so I had to navigate giving hand signals for directions and numbers for severity of corners."

"Can we do another three days?" Andrew Travis asked. "The car's been perfect. It's time to give it a birthday present and a bit of love and we hope to come back in another two years. We're really happy to podium in our first Safari."

Motos
Yamaha rider Rod Faggotter has entered the Safari six times, without the level of success achieved in this year's event.

"I'm really happy, it took a while to get here and it feels surreal at the moment," he said. "I didn't really do anything spectacular this week, I had a dream run with no real mechanical issues. It was great to finally bring it home again for Yamaha too, they've been a great support."

Second-placegetter Matt Fish has also experienced the ups and downs of motor sport in the past, entered in the Safari. But the KTM rider can put all that behind him now.

"I'm feeling really good. I've been disappointed to have not made it to the finish in the last couple of years. Just finishing the Safari feels fantastic, let alone making it to the podium. Today's stages were short but quite tricky. I didn't take any risks, I just wanted to get to the finish line."

Shane Diener, who also won the Dakar Challenge, placed another Yamaha on the podium, scoring third place in this year's event.

"I'm really happy and really relieved, I've had six starts in seven years and this is the first time I've finished it," he said. "In previous years it's always been a mechanical issue or I've been broken."

Winning the Dakar Challenge means Diener must now seek sponsorship for his tilt at the international event.

Quads
If the top three moto riders were happy with their results, the overriding emotion for winning quad rider Heath Young was relief. And like the Olholm and Trigg in the Auto section and the three moto riders, Young didn't fluke his win with a bit of beginner's luck.

"It's been a tough last few days emotionally," he said. "I'm bloody glad it's done. It's been four years trying to get to this position. Last year I came second so this feels so good."

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...

Don't forget to register to comment on this article.