07 – Day 2 Thursday Highlights – Sunraysia Safari 2025

[Music] The second day of competition was in stark contrast to the first. Gone was the wet, sloppy track that had motos and autos heading in all directions. In its place, wide expanses of country New South Wales basking under a warm sun and brisk wind, quickly drying the route ahead. It's the closest the safari has ever been to South Australia. The other side of this fence, in fact. But that transgression would have spelled a DNF. No DNF for Moto leader Cory Banks, but an overshoot would prove costly. >> Made a little mistake early in the stage and Toby got me and then we sort of basically rode together all the way. >> Not surprisingly, Toby Hedrix was quick, carrying a 1 minute 38 second deficit into day two. He was on task closing the gap before the midpoint refuelled. >> That one was a tricky stage to lead. So, it's hard to um really make time once if you can see the bike in front, you pretty well yeah can can maintain that. But uh had a heap of fun. That was a much better run than yesterday. Um had a few little drums yesterday, but same for everyone and uh yeah, get to lead out tomorrow, so see how that goes. >> Hedrix took the win for the day, but still Banks would hold the overall moto lead. For 170 km, moto riders navigated their way between fast, wide open stretches and tight, twisty, bumpy terrain, threatening to unseat an unweary rider. Archie Connor surrendered third place to Will Ashby. >> Yeah, he got me. A lot of long straights and he just got me, I guess. Made one navigation mistake and he caught right up. So, no, it was good. We had a bit of teamwork at the gate. So, yeah, got through there well. >> Sort of rode along together for most of it. It was pretty cool. sort of battling side by side and helping each other with gates and stuff. It's the first time we've done anything like this, so I know it's pretty cool. >> Unusual. Kind of weird to be kind of working with your competitors. >> Yeah, it is a bit weird. Totally different to um what I'm used to, but no, it's really cool. The terrain is very similar to home and I had lots of fun. >> The big wet of yesterday was still being felt. >> There was a few spots that were holding water. Um some of the harder stuff on the roads, but majority of this sort of red country was good. It all soaked in and was nice and lomy. Um, you seem to have held your own position in anything happening in front or behind you or you're on your own. >> I made one small nav mistake right before the um midway fuel stop. Uh, and then when I checked and I pulled up, I was about 20 seconds behind those guys. So, I think if I didn't do that, we probably would have been nearly minute by minute. So, these guys are holding a really good pace. Um, just critical not to make any mistakes cuz any mistakes you make is time they gain ahead. Scotty Huggins had a cracker day, second fastest behind Toby Hedrix. >> My navigation is going really well now. Um, I pretty much hit every note there. I mean, there's a few tire tracks in front of us, but uh, hit every note, but it's good. >> First timer Scott Deadman struggling with a bike flaming out was one who got swallowed up by Huggin. >> Yeah. In top gear there, he come past me and Yeah, I just couldn't match it. It just she's just not going not pulling in top gear. So, let's have a look at her. >> Yesterday's adventure moto hero Trent Giles was back with a new helmet and a renewed passion for the safari. But the man leading his class was Andrew Hulahan. Happy with 12th today on a bike not nearly as competitive as the main field. >> They're 700cc. Uh they weigh probably 40 kilos more. a lot harder to stop. Um, and in the tight stuff, they're just a lot heavier. >> And spruing for the event, Queenslander, Alex Kelly. >> Mate, it was fantastic. That was uh that was exactly what Sunraer sacks out to achieve. It was a lot of wide open stuff, some really great twisty stuff through some bushes there and some trees, a mixture of enduro and rally. It was great. If we have that for the next two days, I'll be ecstatic. from two wheels to four. The quads limited by top speed. >> Just today with all the fence lines and stuff like that, we can only sit on 120 130 and like um the push to pass just kept popping up and I was like all the two wheeler riders can just go so much faster in a straight line than we can. So I tend to just yeah shuffle back on the faster days and the the more technical days I tend to shuffle up. So yeah, it's good fun. Anyway, >> first auto home. Andrew Travis in the Holden Commodore. We had a pretty clean run. There was some tricky nav in there, but we got that right. So, uh, we're pretty happy. I reckon the track suit like was probably got a bit uh cleaner at the end. So, Dean and Rob will be uh will be fast and and the boys. Yeah, >> the Subaru boys were fast, but the Can-Am Maverick R of Glenn Brinkman was raising eyebrows for the second day. Starting fifth, the buggy hauled in. First, Warren Denim and then Herage Senior right on the finish line. Gone was his overnight third position. >> Oh, that's the most fun ever. Hey, that was perfect. Bit hard overtaking, but we shared a couple of gates. Yeah, worked out. Three gates. I got they got one. We got one. They got the last one. So, it's really good fun. >> The thing's a bit of a rocket, isn't it? >> It is a bit of a rocket. I surprised everyone yesterday and surprised me today. Tried me hardest, but me hardest wasn't good enough. >> Starting second today, Dean Herage was also beaten by Brinkman and his buggy, but not enough to steal outright for the event. >> Um, road's pretty good in there. Like, obviously had way less um rain than yesterday in the other region. So that's the thing. When you travel out 150 km to a stage, it's going to be a little bit different. Solid from us. Car was good. We made no real mistakes. So um we're happy. Moving and shaking things up on day two was James Moffett in the Holden Rodeo who caught Warren Denim in stage. >> Car went really well. It was very very fast and then some good real rally flying stages. So the car went well. Um really happy. Richard McNay was happy too until his co-driver kept yelling at him for breaking the 190k speed limit. >> Slow down. Slow down. I go, "What's wrong?" And he keeps, "Oh, you're going too fast." Oh, okay. So, cuz this shows 180 when it's really going 190. So, it's actually a bit hard, but it takes a long time to get up there anyway. It takes a long time to wind up. So, >> poor old you. >> Cross-section of uh roads and terrain though in the last two days and the weather as well. >> Absolutely. It's amazing, isn't it? This is >> Okay, looks interesting. Wonder if lint >> you finished the stage. >> Poor old car. >> Sounds a bit rattly there. >> Something's going wrong. >> I don't know what's going on. >> It's a bit of rattle there. >> That rattle was terminal and McNe was trailer bound in search of a new engine. >> The battle of the Evo Pajgeros moved up a gear. Roland Diamond began the day just 1 second ahead of teammate Robert Cox, but after 177 km, he nearly threw it away on the flying finish. Came in a bit hot on that little kink and just went a bit wide. And sorry, Mr. Farmer. Um, we love your land, but you owe you a little bit of crop. So, thank you. >> That was awesome. Great Fang. Uh, really wide open. Um, we just hope that we're just faster than our teammate. His teammate had been chasing all stage, hoping to close the gap. >> Roland one, Robert zero >> today. >> Well, I don't know, but he's been gone from here for probably a couple of minutes. >> We had him at 15 seconds at the refuel and then we had a little nav problem. So, >> my bad. >> Oh, what happened? >> Oh, just made a bad call. So anyway, it's all good. >> And everything was all good for Jordan Lawson eventually. [Music] Although a split oil pressure sender unit at Refuel threatened to derail his first Sunraia Safari. He and co-driver Taylor McDall will line up tomorrow for the third day of competition. Heat. Heat. [Music]