Lounds participates in the Australasian safari
A half day of sand dune riding stands between Craig Lounds and winning his first off-road race. Yesterday, a V8 Supercars driver extended his lead to about an hour on the penultimate leg of an Australian safari in Western Australia.
“We had a great day,” he said. “This is how I expected the safari to be; open and fast roads through forestry.”
Today, Lounds and co-driver Kees Veel of the Gold Coast are tackling two difficult stages in the coastal sand dunes near Esperanza in their Holden Colorado. "There's only one day left, but apart from the first section, which is rocky, it's all sand," Lounds said.
“We have three small stretches and we have to get our bearings right and keep the pace. The bikes will go first and lay a difficult course and I think we will be the first cars so navigation will be a major component of tomorrow.
“We've gotten lost and found our way back before. Kes is quite skilled at this; this is his 13th Safari." Lowndes said he hadn't thought about how they would celebrate tomorrow's victory.
"We'll celebrate it by getting back on the plane and thinking about Bathurst," he said. Lounds and Veal were followed by Victorians Darren Green and Wayne Smith in their Nissan Patrol, and Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki in their Isuzu D-Max, the first diesel-powered car.
The order changed yesterday in the bike section when third-place rider Rod Faggotter of Longreach pulled out of the race after first leg broke his big toe in a fall the day before.
This leaves the KTM rider trio up front with Bathurst rider Ben Grabham heading towards his third win. He is followed by Todd Smith from Condobolin, New South Wales and Matthew Fish from Kineton, Victoria.
RESULTS
Pos Veh Crew Vehicle Cat/ SS15 SS16 SS17 SS18 Pen Total No Class
1 100 LOWNDES - WEEL 2003 Holden Colorado A5.2 25:00 03:06 02:57 24:38 30:54:59
2 122 GREEN - SMITH 1999 nissan Patrol A2.2 30:12 03:31 03:18 27:47 32:11:38
3 102 GARLAND - SUZUKI 2010 Isuzu DMAX A5.4 23:36 02:55 02:58 23:33 32:42:42
4 105 TURLI - TILLET 1996 Nissan Patrol A5.3 25:16 04:48 02:58 25:46 33:41:13
5 101 STREAM - VAN KANN 1992 Mitsubishi Pajero A5.1 27:07 05:35 03:53 30:24 34:35:46
6 177 DI LALLO - MASI 1999 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution A1.1 30:11 03:43 03:18 31:48 38:18:38
7 106 MALDRYU - ERL 2004 Mitsubishi Pajero A1.2 31:47 03:40 03:32 36:31 39:02:37
8 112 MUIR - UOKER 1998 Mitsubishi Pajero EVO A1.1 39:44 03:42 03:17 31:26 41:52:17
9 110 KNOWLES - VILLANOVA 2008 Hummer H2 SUT A5.2 25:11 03:55 03:01 29:30 43:30:59 10 109 WALKDEN - LONG 1998 Mitsubishi Pajero EVO A2.1 28:13 03:18 03:17 27:21 43:35:31
11 137 YUAN DE - TAIGUAN 2005 Kuang Qi Chang Feng CFA2 T2.1 47:15 03:42 03:39 34:37 45:09:39
12 103 BREDL - BREDL 2000 Mitsubishi Pajero A0.2 01:01:44 05:00 04:54 MCf 01:30:00 45:44:51
13 115 OWEN - CAIRNS 2004 NISSAN GU PATROL A5.3 27:39 03:03 03:03 26:05 47:35:02
14 127 YOUNG - MCBEAN 2002 Mitsubishi Pajero A1.5 52:14 03:48 03:31 32:41 47:41:33
15 136 WEI YU - MIN 2005 Guang Qi Chang Feng CFA2 T1.2 44:46 03:25 03:19 25:54 47:59:11
104 HARRINGTON - HARRINGTON 2007 Nissan Patrol A5.3 24:45 03:01 03:03 DNF DNF
107 DENHAM — DENHAM 2003 Mitsubishi Triton A5.2 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF
108 ОЛЬХОЛЬМ - ДОБЛ 2004 Mitsubishi NM Pajero A5.2 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF
111 DUNN — DUNN 1998 Nissan GU A5.3 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF
113 WATMAN — WATMAN 1998 Mitsubishi Pajero EVO A1.1 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF
129 QUINN - FEAVER 1995 Mitsubishi Pajero A5.2 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF
142 HOFFMANN, Glenn 2010 Dirt Buggies Superlite A4.4 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF 150 PINSON — DENBRINKER 2002 Ford ba rtv A3.4 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF
155 MONKHOUSE - MONKHOUSE 2006 suzuki vitara A5.1 DNF DNF DNF DNF DNF
MCx2 - Start and finish control skipped, MCf - Finish control skipped, [Time] - Time recorded but late Date 9 25:2010:22 Form no:10 Page 50.145
