Smith said he was surprised at how fast Faggotter was riding. “I rode my ass off in the last stage today and only beat Rod by one second,” Smith said. “We made adjustments to my bike overnight to cater for the softer sand which might have slowed me down a bit. There were lots of twists, turns and crests in the last stage. I’m feeling good for tomorrow.”
Faggotter said the day improved for him stage by stage. “There was lots of moisture this morning, making the sand heavy and testing out the bikes. Bikes and riders were working hard in the first stage. I enjoyed the last stage more,” Faggotter said. “The bike’s going well, nothing’s broken and the mechanics will just do a routine check tonight.”
Matt Fish is sitting in third place in the Moto class. “I had a good day,” Fish explained, “but lost a bit of time from the leaders by making a navigation error in the second stage, but only lost a couple of minutes. The bike’s going really well and I’m feeling good.”
Shane Diener is the fastest of the Dakar Challenge entries and currently in fourth position, and said he didn’t push it today. “I had a steady ride and took it easy,” Diener said. “Psychologically, I felt good when I rode past the place I crashed last year. The bike’s going real good.”
Rally champion Alister McRae held his seventh position. “I dropped a little time this morning,” McRae said. “I stopped to help Warren Strange after he waved me down, and towed him the last 10 kilometers of the first stage. I didn’t really enjoy the first stage—it was hard work and hard on the bike—but the last stage was really good.” McRae said his navigating was getting better day-by-day. “Riding is more mentally and physically exhausting than driving in a rally,” he said.
Australasia Safari – Leg 2 – Moto Results – Top 10
1. Todd Smith: 05:00:05
2. Rodney Faggotter: 05:00:11
3. Matt Fish: 05:05:58
4. Shane Diener: 05:12:05
5. Lee Stephens: 05:16:02
6. Vernon Strange: 05:19:21
7. Russell Scoble: 05:25:50
8. Alister McRae: 05:29:46
9. Ivan Erceg: 05:31:08
10. Warren Strange: 05:31:11