Jacob Smith at Yellow Mountain
Emerging Yamaha talent Jacob Smith is set to become the next big prospect in
Australian off road riding after an incredible performance at the Yellow
Mountain Cross Country event last weekend, a warm-up ahead of the Australian
Safari later this month.
The Condo 750 winner revelled in the favourable
conditions and familiar territory, with the event consisting of approximately
220km of racing each day – from Condobolin to Tottenham on Saturday and the
reverse route on Sunday. Jacob was third in the prologue, and had shot into
the lead after the first fuel dump. He checked out on the field, and was racing
towards the finish line before the bike stopped painfully short, having run out
of fuel.
Running a different capacity fuel tank for the weekend, the team was
aiming to test the economy of the bike, and despite the disappointment, are
pleased they were able to accurately gauge the bike’s fuel consumption in a race
situation.On Sunday, Smith showed his skill and determination by blasting
back into second after starting well down on the leaders in 6th place. With pace
to burn, he was clearly the quickest rider in the field, and despite the
dampener of Saturday’s result the entire team is looking forward to a fantastic
Safari event.
Team Manager Gary Williams said he was incredibly pleased with
Jacob’s progress and predicted the emergence of a new star in the sport. “The
weekend went very well, if it hadn’t been for a slight miscalculation in the
amount of fuel we needed then I have no doubt Jake would have absolutely smoked
the competition – he showed this outright speed on the Sunday morning and was by
far the quickest guy out there,” said Williams.“As an 18-year-old he is
incredibly mature, he approaches everything very calmly and didn’t lose his cool
when the bike stopped short of the line on Saturday."
"He actually borrowed some
fuel off a farmer and was able to continue, finishing only 8 minutes
behind. He’s definitely the next big thing in Australian off-road racing,
and the Safari will be a good indication of this talent.The Yellow
Mountain event was our last real test before the event, there’s a 200km
shakedown on the Wednesday before the Safari kicks off, but we’re pretty
confident the bikes are set up well, with a good compromise between comfort and
flat out speed.”
Sam Laws, Dealer Principal of Sam Laws Motorcycles and the
driving force behind the team’s fleet of WR machines, said Jacob had shone on
the weekend and could not wait to witness his progress in the Safari.
“For a
weekend that was designed to test the mileage of the bike and act as a shakedown
ahead of the Safari, the whole team was rapt with the performance and know the
final result is hardly indicative of Jacob’s performance,” said Laws.“The
best indication of this was his start on Sunday where he reeled in the riders in
front of him so quickly and professionally,” he said.“We are rapt with his
performance and how the bike is running, and can’t wait to get to the Safari in
a few weeks time to team up with our other 3 riders.”
Yamaha’s factory
representation at the Australian Safari comes in the form of the
highly-credentialed Ross Mitchell Yamaha Australian Safari Team, with Smith to
line-up alongside the four-pronged attack’s namesake Ross Mitchell, and
international specialists Casey McCoy and Jonah Street.
Considered to be one
of the most gruelling contests of its kind in the world, the 9-day Safari is
often described as Australia’s version of Paris to Dakar, with competition
taking place in the wilds of Western Australia, starting on August 24 and
heading through until the 1st of September across 5500km.
A world-class
field will tackle a variety of terrain, from the rocky and hilly regions of
north-west Australia, through deserts, coastal dunes and south towards the
forestry roads heading into Perth.
ENDS.
