Sunday, 09 August 2009 14:24
Twenty-year old Condobolin rider, Jacob Smith, has become the youngest ever winner of the Australasian Safari after dominating the seven-day event, which finished in the Western Australian gold mining city of Kalgoorlie today.
Having his 24-year old brother in second place was an added bonus.
“We work together, even though we’re on different teams, and we support each other,” Smith said. “We always wanted to be 1-2, it was just a case of who was first and who was second.”
Anything but a full-time professional rider, Smith will be back at work on Monday morning, less than 48 hours after his historic victory.
Swedish rider, Annie Seel, relished her first Safari experience, and reaped praise on the event and her fellow competitors.
“I think if you want to do the Dakar in Argentina then you need to do this event first as a training event,” the 40-year old veteran said. “I’m going to try to sell the event back home and get more competitors for next year.
“I was particularly impressed by how fast the locals ride with the navigation. An Aussie team in the Dakar could do very well. For me, this event was as tough as the Dakar.”
Final results, 2009 Australasian Safari (provisional)
1 Jacob SMITH (NSW), Honda CRF 450 X, 22h 58m 09s
2 Todd SMITH (NSW), KTM 530 EXC, +14m 18s
3 Ben GRABHAM (NSW), KTM 530 EXC, +17m 48s
4 Ivan ERCEG (WA), KTM 450 EXC, +1h 58m 57s
5 David SCHWARZ (SA), Husaberg, +2hrs 32m 25s
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