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You would think that they would carry tubes for sure and would be on there way in no time!!
I cant understand why he would have to ride on the rim!!:blink: :blink:
Go the TTR 250 :woohoo:Even a retread is better than this!!
Trailboss wrote:
Quote:Riddle me this guysBen said about his rear tyre drama
“I broke a spoke, which is normally a pretty minor problem, but it can cause you big problems when you’re out in the desert,” a philosophical Grabham said.
“The spoke then punctured the tyre and I was forced to take it off and ride on the rim until the end of the stage. I fixed that and just had to get on with in the second stage. These things are typical of the Safari – it’s not the end of the world and I’ll push on.”
Now why didnt he fit a spare tube that he would be carrying, wouldnt he? The only reason you would have a tube is if you had a mousse fitted, and they dont normally use rear mousses because they cant handle the high speeds. So he probably didnt have a mousse so would you race through 100km plus stages without a tube?
TB
Bloody PDS I tells ya!
TB
Cream is rising to the top Scotty
TB
The results from yesterday are in, Ben made up sometime but he is still 52 minutes behind the 2 Hondas of AJ Roberts and Jacob Smith. The GHR boys have a 17 minutes lead over Todd Smith (Jacobs brother) on the WA supported KTM so thats a fairly handy lead.
Its the halfway point now, Dave is up to 34th position and the lone XR250 which is an L model is up to 48th position still leading a 525 KTM.
All the results are out as per the end of day 3
http://www.rallyresults.com.au/safari2009/MotosLeg3.pdf
Couple of photos e mailed me from ECKS
ECKS was saying last night on the phone that Dave had only just made the last control before they shut it and he and Dave would both be arriving at the end of the day in the dark, so all the work on the bike etc would be done in the dark before they eat, setup maps and roll them for the next day.
Couple of pics from the safari web site, the first one I found was of Dave at speed, with time to wave still
Benny struggling to make up time
Thanks again ECKS and go the Hondas (and Benny)
TB
ECKS has e mailed his report god bless his little self
It is a s follows
Aj out with dislocated shoulder. Couple of others injured as well. Dave going ok, had a nav problem this morning but went better this arvo. Service notes were SHIT, got lost but made it to 2nd refuel on time, just! Pics from first refuel today
Ben at the first day service
The GHR crew in action
Random pics
Finishing results for Day 4
http://www.rallyresults.com.au/safari2009/MotosLeg4.pdf
Jacob Smith still in front on the Honda, behind him he has 5 dirty orange things trying to succeed by shear numbers :laugh:
Jacob has a 21min lead over his brother and a 51 minute lead over Ben in third17:50 WST – 5/08/09
GRUELLING COURSE NARROWS THE SAFARI FIELD
The gruelling 3600 kilometre course of the Australasian Safari has started to take its toll on riders and drivers as day four of the seven day marathon took competitors from Leonora to Laverton in outback Western Australia.Honda’s Jacob Smith has increased his lead in the motorbike section of the event to over 20 minutes after his team-mate, AJ Roberts, crashed heavily and dislocated his shoulder on the second stage of the day.
On the quad bikes, Czech Republic’s Josef Machacek continues to lead the way with a 14 minute advantage over Western Australian rider Heath Young on a KTM.
While the Dakar winner is mastering the local conditions, the other three members of his Czech team are struggling to come to terms with the treacherous terrain. Third placed Martin Plechaty may be forced to withdraw before the start of day five with mechanical problems.
Former V8 Supercar driver Paul Weel continues to lead the auto category in his Holden Colorado after a stirring drive over the day’s three stages. Weel and his co-driver, father Kees Weel, hold a lead of over six minutes over last year’s winner Steve Riley, with Terry “Tangles” Conner third.
Today saw the field cover 301 competitive kilometres as the event passed its half-way mark. Western Australia’s spectacular outback scenery played a prominent role today with some magnificent views, although riders and drivers had little time to take their eyes off the road.
The battle for the top bike honours has turned into a purely local affair with the internationals unable to match the pace of their homegrown rivals.
With only 10 seconds separating the GHR Honda team-mates Jacob Smith and AJ Roberts overnight, the Condobolin rider was hoping to keep his Queensland rival at bay. Roberts dropped a further 19 seconds on the day’s first stage, but on the 204 kilometre second test came off his bike, injuring his shoulder and giving Smith some breathing space.
This also enabled Smith’s brother, Todd, riding a KTM 530 EXC, to move into second place, well clear of the hard charging third placed man, Ben Grabham, on another KTM.
“When I saw the results, I’d done better than I thought I would have,” Jacob Smith said. “I had a pretty good run today, but made a little navigational error on one stage, but didn’t lose much time.
“The second stage was very tough and very rough, it was really easy to hurt yourself on a track that wasn’t very well defined.”
His brother, Todd, had bike problems with his KTM, but was glad to finish the day relatively unscathed.
“I had a few bike troubles today, with a muffler that fell to bits and carburettor problems, so I wasn’t getting enough top speed,” he said. “But I’m still here and in once piece. I was completely shattered after losing my chain and dropping time yesterday, but today has been much better.”
Grabham, the winner of the previous two Safaris, dropped over an hour on the second day when he punctured a rear tyre and fell to 24th place. Since then he’s been consistently setting top two stage times, but with a gap of over 51 minutes still to bridge, he’ll need the Smith brothers to strike problems if he’s to take his third consecutive victory.
However, he still sees himself in with a winning chance.
“I led all the way today on stages that were tough and difficult to navigate,” Grabham said. “I never gave up when I had problems and got behind on the second day – I just keep looking straight ahead and trying to make up for lost time.
“Each day I’ve moved up places, and I plan to continue to do that,” he added.
New South Wales riders hold the top four positions in the bikes, with Tim Vandenberg fourth, followed by the leading West Australian rider, Ivan Erceg, on another KTM. [color=][/color]
Five-times Dakar Rally quad bike winner, Josef Machacek, is still the man to catch in the quads after a relatively troublefree day on his Yamaha Raptor.
Western Australian rider, Heath Young, was slowed by clutch problems on his KTM today, but has moved up to second place. If his troubles can be rectified, he stands a real chance of moving into the top spot over the final three days of the event.
Another Czech Republic rider, Martin Plechaty, may be forced to retire from his current third place.
Plechaty doesn’t speak any English, but on arriving at the Laverton rest halt, he pointed at his bike and said “kaput”, indicating that his machine was on its last legs.
That gives Victorian Paul Smith a big chance to move into third place on his CAN AM, although he still trails the category leader by over 53 minutes.
“I had more tyre problems today, but nothing like yesterday,” Smith said. “Today I just had to stop and pump them up.
“It was a demanding course with pretty hard navigation, but it was quite enjoyable just the same.”
The Weel combination had another good day in their Holden Colorado ute and stayed clear of defending champion Steve Riley in his Mitsubishi Pajero.
Weel’s endurance driving experience from races such as the Bathurst 1000 is really paying dividends as he heads towards his first Australasian Safari crown.
Riley knows how to win though, and with three tough days still to go he can’t be discounted.
“The roads in this area were some of the best I’ve driven on,” Riley said. After steering rack problems early in the event he seems to be well and truly back on track.
“Tangles” Conner, from Boundary Bend in Victoria, dropped back from second to third today, but his ageing Nissan ute is coping well with the rugged conditions that the Western Australian outback is throwing up.
“We have been consistent since the first day,” he said. “The conditions suit us, because our car is probably tougher than the others – we have beam axles not independent suspension, which can make a difference in the rough.”
Day five is one of the most difficult of the event, with three stages covering over 460 competitive kilometres, including a trip through the Great Victoria Desert, with plenty of sand dunes to negotiate. Rough and rugged road conditions are guaranteed for much of the day, so it will once again be a real survival of the fittest.
MOTO
1 Jacob SMITH (NSW), Honda CRF 450 X, 12h 19m 46s
2 Todd SMITH (NSW), KTM 530 EXC, +20m 33s
3 Ben GRABHAM (NSW), KTM 530 EXC, +51m 19s
4 Tim VANDENBERG (NSW), KTM 530 EXC, +1h 07m 29s
5 Ivan ERCEG (WA), KTM 450 EXC, +1h 16m 53s
TB
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