MOTORSPORT: Australasian Safari Leg Five

After reducing Steve Riley and John Doble’s lead to a mere seven minutes after four strenuous legs of Safari competition, the Toyota Tacoma of David McShane and Bill Hayes couldn’t quite maintain their momentum on Thursday’s fifth day of competition in the West Australian wilderness.

On the 160.62km Yanrey opening stage, the Riley VF Ute lead home the Ford Ranger of John Purshouse and Murray Hynes by a mere 21 seconds, after one and a half hours of grueling competition. The Nissan Patrol of Greg Scanlon and Liam Nunns finished the section third outright, one position ahead of the McShane//Hayes Toyota.

The afternoon was spent toiling through the dust of Emu Creek, the 208.77km fifth leg finale the last to exceed 200 kilometres in the seven-day event.
Riley and Doble also led home the Auto crews here, 2min 35sec ahead of McShane/Hayes with the Purshouse/Hynes Ranger in third to cap off a strong day for the Ford, which lies fourth outright.

In the Safari Challenge for standard four-wheel drives motoring.com.au’s Matt Brogan and Julia Barkley maximised their advantage from Leg Four, taking Yanrey from Jeep Wrangler Rubicon X team-mates Matt Raudonikis and Ian Wheeler by almost eight minutes.

Raudonikis hit back on Emu Creek, recording a time of 3hr 2min 53sec to lead Brogan home by 5min 39sec. It matters little in the overall standings, with Brogan’s lead giving him a nine-hour buffer, but to finish first in the Australasian Safari, first you must finish...

Positions at end of Leg Five - Auto
Steve Riley/John Doble – Holden Commodore VF Ute - 20:57:49
David McShane/Bill Hayes – Toyota Tacoma – 21:12:31
Greg Scanlon/Liam Nunns – Nissan Patrol – 21:28:07