Rod Faggotter delivered the 2013 Safari win to Yamaha Desert Racing. Image: Ross Briggs.

After 3200 kilometres, seven days and dozens of stages, Yamaha Desert Racing’s Rod Faggotter has won the 2013 Australasian Safari on board his Yamaha WR450F.

Faggotter crossed the finish line in Geraldton, Western Australia, late this afternoon and stopped the clock after 19h11m26 of racing over the past week with an impressive 26-minute lead over his nearest rival.

The Queenslander took the lead in Australia’s toughest and most challenging motorcycle endurance event on day two and apart from one stage, he never let it go.

After several years of trying, Faggotter was over the moon about his win in what was a gruelling 2013 event.

“I have tried to win this thing a few times now and something always seemed to happen but this time luck was on my side, the bike was perfect and everything ran smoothly,” Faggotter said.

“It feels awesome to win this race as it is such a tough event to win. You can’t do it without a great team and the Yamaha Desert Racing crew, including Vernon Strange and Ben Dickson, again did an amazing job and I’m so thankful for their support and encouragement not only this week but in the time leading up to the event.

“I also want to thank the organisers on another great event and pay respect to Ivan Erceg. This years’ race will always be remembered because of what happened and I hope that every year this race is ran competitors think of Ivan and the great guy he was.”

Matt Fish on KTM 500 EXC has also overcome the disappointment experienced at previous Safaris to finally reach a podium finish, placing second.

Shane Diener is another who has finally achieved an enormous goal and also set a record by putting two Yamaha riders on the podium – the first time in the history of Safari. Diener was also the winner of the Dakar Challenge.

Other notable mentions in the moto category are Lee Stephens, who has managed to achieve a fourth place finish in his first Safari, coming into the event with a motocross background. He won a free entry into Australasian Safari from the Safari Challenge at the Condo 750.

Rally champion Alister McRae had a huge week for KTM, finishing fifth also in his first Safari and one of his first moto events.

2013 Australasian Safari
Western Australia
Overall results:
1. Rod Faggotter 19h11m26
2. Matt Fish 19h37m21
3. Shane Diener 19h48m27
4. Lee Stephens 20h16m28
5. Alister McRae 20h22m41
6. Russell Scoble 21h03m13
7. Ryan Ingram 21h48m08
8. Troy O’Connor 22h09m19
9. Tim Foreman 22h58m26
10. Stan Watt 23h23m50