Australian Safari 2004 Sees Reigning Champion Andy Caldecott Return with KTM Team for Fifth Consecutive Crown - September 13-20 – Outback NSW
Preparations for the 19th annual Australian Safari are underway, with event organizers Octagon promising the toughest international cross-country off-road event staged for motorcycles, 4WDs, and 2WDs to date.
The eight-day event commences in Bathurst, NSW, on 13 September, where entrants will travel over 5,000 km throughout Outback NSW, with overnight stops in Tamworth, Moree, Bourke, Tibooburra, Broken Hill, Cobar, and Narromine before finishing back in Bathurst on September 20.
The Safari will include both Auto and Motorcycle Divisions, promising competitors the ultimate test in endurance and stamina for both their machines and themselves.
Returning to the event in the Motorcycle Division is four-time Australian Safari winner and Paris Dakar contender, Andy Caldecott of Team KTM, who is eager to make it five wins in a row!
A bike shop owner in the township of Keith, South Australia, Andy will take to the course on his famed KTM 660 Rallye, joined by KTM teammates Andrew Coaker, a merchant banker based in Singapore, also riding a KTM 660 Rallye, and David Schwarz, an engineer from Lobethal, South Australia, riding a KTM 450.
While Caldecott took the overall win last year, his KTM teammate David Schwarz finished fourth outright and, more importantly, was the first 450cc machine in the field to cross the line.
Together, the KTM Rally Team plans to use the 2004 Australian Safari as a training ground for the famed Dakar Rally as they form Team Australia to take on the world’s best at this internationally staged event in 2005.
In last year’s Australian Safari, Andy Caldecott set such a pace that he caught the fastest ten cars, which had set off at one-minute intervals some thirty minutes before the bikes. The speed of Caldecott on his KTM 660 in 2003 has led the organizers to start the bikes before the cars in 2004, to ensure they don’t get held up in a dust storm.
The KTM crew will travel with a transporter carrying stocked items required for maintenance following each event day. Personal mechanics for each rider will travel with the transporter in preparation for their rider’s arrival at each overnight stop.
At the end of each rally day, the riders are given a map to prepare for navigating the following day’s racing, demonstrating how this gruelling event is designed to challenge not only the reliability of the bike but also test the riders’ navigation skills and tenacity, all under very arduous conditions.
Photo: Andy Caldecott
Credit: Phil Smith
