Wednesday, 07 April 2010 07:48
Rod Faggotter on his way to win the Condo 750 pic: Max Sullivan
Rod Faggotter, owner of
Longreach’s Yamaha Dealership - Centretune Motorcycles, has piloted his
Yamaha WR450F to a 33-second win at the
Condo 750 endurance event held in Condobolin, Northwestern New South Wales, over the Easter Weekend.
Faggotter was well placed after day one in second place but came home strongly on day two to take the lead and win in the prestigious off road event. The win came with a last minute scare when he crashed just 10-kilometres from the finish line but Faggotter was able to remount quickly and sprint for home and keep his well earned lead intact and win over Todd and Jacob Smith in second and third respectively.
“It was pretty much smooth sailing, apart from that last minute crash, all the way through. Conditions were tricky on Saturday so I rode conservatively to ensure I was well placed for the run home,” Rod explains.
“It was a quick air filter and oil change on Saturday Night, top up the fuel and my WR450 was flawless from start to finish.”
“That crash near the end got my heart racing, but I had a big enough lead to gather myself and get over the line to take the win.”
The grueling two day event saw over 80 riders navigate their way through trying conditions and a total of 800-kilometres in the rugged country side. Recent rain in the region meant there was plenty of difficult terrain to pass with wash outs and standing water a real issue on day one.
Competitors then faced dusty conditions on day two so it was a real test of machine and the Yamaha WR450F came through with flying colours.
“I raced the bike I used in the
Australian Safari last year. I just dusted it off, took off the rear fuel tanks and it was good to go. It never missed a beat all weekend and it already had plenty of use before we came here,” Rod said.
The long running Condo 750 is a prestigious event in the adventure bike community and is seen as good lead in for the major off road events like The Finke Desert race and Australian Safari to be held later in the year. Faggotter will compete in these high profile events over the coming year as well as selected other off road and adventure races.
RESULTS – CONDO 7501st Rod Faggotter – Yamaha WR450F
2nd Todd Smith – Honda- CRF450X
3rd Jacob Smith – Honda – CRF450X
ROD Says Thanks to: Centretune Motorcycles, Yamaha, GYTR, Dunlop, Safari Tanks, Scott Clothing and Goggles
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