With one day remaining of Australian Safari Ben Grabham look set to collect the 2007 moto title of Australia's premier off-road event.
The bike section of the event has been a closely-contested affair, but Bathurst rider Ben Grabham appears likely to be spraying champagne from the top of the podium in his Safari debut.
He has taken his Honda CRF 450X to a nine minute 24 second lead over his nearest rival, a superb effort given he had dropped 18 minutes on day three after riding off course between Broome and Port Hedland.
Lying in second place is the Yamaha WR450 of 18-year-old Jacob Smith, the youngest man in the field and another Safari novice.
Smith, from the New South Wales town of Condobolin, collected one of today's stages, but more importantly, moved more than eight minutes ahead of the third bike on the standings, the KTM 660 Rallye of Broken Hill's Adrian Channing.
Smith now has a 14 minute 12 second buffer on Channing, and has also not given up hope of catching the bike event leader.
Tomorrow's leg includes three competitive stages, a regroup at Gloucester Park, and a ceremonial parade of vehicles to the Forrest Place in the heart of Perth for the medallion presentation.
Top 10 bikes ‰ÛÒ After Stage 30 Day Eight, Australian Safari (Provisional)
1, B GRABHAM (NSW), Honda CRF 450X, 14:20:54
2, J SMITH (NSW), Yamaha WR450, 14:30:18
3, A CHANNING (NSW), KTM 660 Rallye, 14:44:30
4, A COAKER (NSW), Honda CRF 450X, 14:59:33
5, A RIEMANN (SA), KTM 450EXC, 15:53:05
6, M FISH (VIC), KTM 525 EXC, 16:08:35
7, D SCHWARZ (SA), KTM 660 Rally, 16:31:30
8, B KIENHUIS (VIC), Husaberg FE 650, 16:37:41
9, B HUDSON (QLD), KTM, 450 EXC, 16:42:25
10, T O'CONNOR (NSW), Yamaha WR450, 16:45:53
