Yamaha Desert Racing rider Rod Faggotter continues to lead the Safari.

Yamaha’s Rod Faggotter continues to lead the 2013 Australasian Safari, following leg three of Australia’s toughest off-road motorsport event.

Western Australia’s Gascoyne was the scene for 432 hard competitive kilometres of racing on Monday in two stages, and the course offered up what the region is renowned for – rich red earth, rugged ranges and rock formations, cattle stations and dry creek beds.

It was also a challenging day for Safari’s medical team because today’s leg three is the most remote part of the event.

All injuries reported to the medical team were from moto competitors and experienced Safari competitor Warren Strange was airlifted by Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) to Perth as a precaution, after he crashed his bike early in the first stage. The RFDS was on site within three hours and Strange is in a serious but stable condition.

Faggotter regained his moto lead while Todd Smith moved to second place after experiencing some dramas during leg three. Matt Fish is putting in a strong performance and is sitting third overall.

“I really pushed it along today trying to keep the ride smooth,” Faggotter said. “I had no navigation errors and my only issue was windburn.”

Smith didn’t have such a smooth day, coming off his bike in the second stage.

“I damaged my front wheel, map reader and handlebars 130km into the second stage,” he explained. “It also popped the fuel cap and I lost fuel when I was riding, so for 50km I had to ride at quarter throttle.”

Despite having stitches in his forehead, Fish was in good spirits and finished second in the second stage and sits in third outright.

“I tipped the bike over and the goggles cut my forehead,” Fish commented. “The terrain was very challenging and unforgiving today but I’m happy.”

Shane Diener had a strong day finishing in outright fourth and continues to hold the Dakar Challenge lead.

“I’m pretty happy with today,” he reflected. “I had to stop in the first stage to fix the tension in my wheel and lost about four minutes. I overshot a few turns and missed a corner but didn’t have any other navigation errors.

“Today’s long second stage was really challenging to push through and do that distance without a break.”

2013 Australasian Safari
Western Australia

Overall moto results (after leg three of seven):
1. Rodney Faggotter 11h22m00
2. Todd Smith 11h30m49
3. Matt Fish 11h43m17
4. Shane Diener 11h56m55
5. Lee Stephens 12h20m23
6. Alister McRae 12h22m24
7. Russell Scoble 12h37m17
8. Ryan Ingram 13h02m34
9. Troy O’Connor 13h17m09
10. Ivan Erceg 13h29m14