| Slutresultat: Pelle och Olle 4:e plats! |
| Skrivet av Redaktionen | |
| 2008-08-30 | |
|
Final day - "Garland and Wallentheim, third and fourth outright " + photos, including podium shots GARLAND MOTOR SPORT UPDATE: AUSTRALASIAN SAFARI DAY SEVEN: SATURDAY, August 30, 2008 After seven days and around 4300km, the Garland Motor Sport/Tubus Racing crews have today taken third and fourth outright in the 2008 Australasian Safari. There was only one stage on this final day, where the competitors travelled from the WA coastal town of Geraldton to a podium presentation in the heart of the state capital of Perth. The 75km stage included sanddunes, water crossings, a monster hillclimb and sections of thick scrub. It was rough but not rough enough to interrupt the charge by Steve Riley in his battered Mitsubishi Pajero and Des Harrington in his Nissan Patrol, who finished first and second after leading the field almost since leaving the startline in Kalgoorlie, last Sunday, despite both suffering a multitude of incidents and mechanical issues along the way. Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki had hoped to make up some time on Friday (yesterday) when rain was forecast, because the prototype D-MAX is particularly good in the wet, but the conditions were so bad that the entire day’s stages were cancelled. “It was a shame to lose yesterday,” says Bruce, who came home ahead of Swedish teammates Pelle Wallentheim and Olle Ohlsson in their Isuzu VehiCross. Neither crew had any serious incidents this week, aside from a number of punctures. “The other guys were definitely suffering, or their cars were, and I think we could definitely have made up some ground against them, if we had run the stages, but it was not to be. “It’s great to have made the finish line, but I’m realising how tired I am, not just because of seven days in the saddle, but also because of the six months of hard work that have gone into building the D-MAX. “Still, this week has proved its capabilities as far as what we built it for. It’s been good practice for Dakar. It’s another step closer to Dakar. “We know the car is strong and reliable and really good on fuel. We know it’s quick because we’ve been matching times with Steve and Des and they have six-litre Chevvy petrol engines under their bonnets compared to our four-cylinder diesel. It shows we will be very close to the mark with the Dakar cars, because they have restrictors. “And we haven’t had any problems with our car. The guys have had very little to do all week. With both cars, it really has been a case of just giving them a general check when we finish, along with throwing some fuel, tyres and air filters at them on a regular basis. We also changed brake pads a couple of times, but that was it. “The D-MAX looks like it will cope well with Dakar, but there’s still work to be done. We’ve got Pelle’s D-MAX built now and ready to go, so we’ll see what they are capable of when we get to Dubai. Given how well they perform generally, and particularly in the sanddunes, we should put on a pretty good show over there.” The crew will now do final preparations on the two cars before they are put on a boat for Dubai and the next step of the journey to Dakar. But tonight, of course, the Garland Motor Sports//Tubus Racing fun meter will be turned up to high as the crew celebrates the week’s achievement with some serious partying! Both Bruce and Pelle competed in the A5 category of the 2008 Australasian Safari, for unlimited 4WD recreational vehicles and Extreme 4WD vehicles. Pelle’s VehiCross is in Category A5.1 for modified 4WD vehicles up to 3500cc; Bruce’s D-MAX is in Category A5.2, for modified 4WD vehicles over 3500cc. While the D-MAX engine is 2999cc, because it is turbo-charged the rules state that all diesel engines with forced induction will have their capacity multiplied by a factor of 1.5 (by 1.7 if petrol) as per the current CAMS Cross-Country Technical Regulations. The Australian and Swedish crews tackled the Australian event as the first stage of their attack on the 2009 Dakar Rally in Argentina. The next step is the UAE Desert Challenge in late October.
RESULTS – AS OF LEG SEVEN (AFTER 24 STAGES) 1. Steve Riley/John Doble Mitsubishi Pajero 25h37m33s 3 Bruce Garland/Harry Suzuki Isuzu D-MAX 26h08m36s 4. Pelle Wallentheim/Olle Ohlsson Isuzu VehiCross 26h19m05s Liz SwantonJournalism // PR
|
