Western Australia’s Adrian Di Lallo is flying the flag for Isuzu Motorsports, in fifth outright after Day Four of the 2014 Australasian Safari, being run in his home state.
Di Lallo and co-driver Roger ‘Roj’ Pedersen and their production-class Isuzu MU-X wagon are also first in class, while Thailand’s Olan Sornsirirat and Veerachai Thorangkoon – the third team in the official ‘Isuzu trio’ – have brought their production class D-MAX ute into 10th place and second in class.
Team leaders Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki had hoped to start Day Four despite missing most of Day Three when their high-performance Dakar-spec Isuzu D-MAX ute stopped 37km into the first stage, but the problem took longer to fix than expected.
“It turned out to be an electrical issue that affected the engine timing, which is why it cut out,” Garland said, after finally sorting the problem and driving direct from the Day Three service park at Gascoyne Junction to the next bivouac at Exmouth.
“We had planned to start today but we just didn’t get it fixed in time. However it is now definitely up and running and we’re planning on a start tomorrow and – all going well – crossing the finish line of this great event on Saturday.
“Obviously we’re disappointed that we won’t be out there chasing a win, but we’re really impressed with what the rest of the guys are doing and we’ll do everything we can to help them all move further up the order.”
Aside from the strong results posted today by the official Isuzu Motorsports entrants, the two other Isuzu crews being helped by the Garland/Suzuki team have also come home well.
The Isuzu MU-X which is being campaigned by Garland’s long-time mate, Reg Owen and co-driver Russell Cairns, is now in sixth outright while the Thai-entered D-MAX crewed by Vorapot Bunchuaylua and Chupong Chaiwan is in ninth (all results based on stage one of the day, and provisional at time of writing).
Day Four of the seven-day cross-country rally across the West Australian outback was made up of two stages: the 211.79km Williambury and the 170.72km Emu Creek Winning (Short). The route took competitors from Gascoyne Junction to Exmouth where they will spend two nights. The town, which is 1270km north of Perth, is perched on the tip of WA’s North West Cape and is the gateway to the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area.
Day Five (Thursday 25 September) will see competitors tackle two stages in the Exmouth area before a second overnight bivouac in the town. They are the Yanrey stage, which is 160.62km, and the Emu Creek/Winning stage, which is 208.77km.
The 2014 Australasian Safari kicked off in the West Australian capital, Perth, with a ceremonial start last Friday night. Full competition began in Geraldton, 424km north of Perth on Sunday (September 21) and finishes in Kalbarri (592km north of Perth) on Saturday, September 27 after seven days and more than 3000km of endurance racing. It’s open to cars, buggies, bikes and quads.
Overall results after stage one of day four (results from stage two not complete at time of writing):
1. David McShane / William Hayes – Toyota Tacoma – 15:35:19
2. Greg Scanlon / Liam Nunns – Nissan Patrol – 15:42:10
3. Steve Riley / John Doble – Holden VF – 15:57:42
5. Adrian Di Lallo / Roger Pedersen – Isuzu MU-X – 16:38:49
6. Reg Owen / Russell Cairns – Isuzu MU-X – 17:10:20
9. V. Bunchuaylua / C. Chaiwan – Isuzu D-MAX – 18:35:14
10. O. Sornsirirat / V. Thorangkoon – Isuzu D-MAX – 19:34:52
