Local motorbike rider, Greg Prisk made a name for himself competing in the Sunraysia Safari Cross Country Rally last week near Wentworth.
Billed as Australia’s toughest rally, the four day event covers 1,200km of riding and driving in tough, sandy terrain.
After the first day of competition, Prisk was the lead rider in the Moto division and he’d also had an outright stage win, finishing more than a minute and a half in front of Auto competitors, two-time Dakar winner Toby Price and his navigator Ben Searcy.
Price and Searcy went on to finish as outright winners on their debut in the Sunraysia Safari, while Prisk unfortunately crashed out on Day 2.
Despite blowing up the engine on his Husqvarna FE 501, prior to the start of the race, Prisk still managed to set a cracking pace on Day 1 as he “ran in” his new engine.
About 100km into Day 2, Prisk came over a sand dune, slid in some grass and hit a fence strainer post and suffered an injury.
“I didn’t realise what I had actually done at first, my hip was pretty sore but I rode for another 70kms until a fuel stop,” he said.
“I’d smashed my map reader so I had to follow someone else for the rest of that stage.”
It was at the fuel stop when he got off the bike and started to weight bear that he realised he’d done some damage, which turned out to be pulled hip and knee tendons, which forced him out of the race.
Prisk said there were two other riders and three cars who also hit that fence during that stage.
It was Prisk’s first crack at the Sunraysia Safari event and he said he had been enjoying it until his accident.
“I like to ride fast, there was a lot of fast terrain.
“I grew up riding in Sandy Creek and I’ve done the Finke a few times and this was my third rally and the first time I’d led.
“I wasn’t going stupid, I thought I was just cruising and skidded in the grass when I came unstuck.”
He said it’s unlikely that he’ll go back and compete next year as the rally has a $3,500 entry fee and offers no prizemoney, just an experience.
“I was lucky that Dido [Copper City Tyre Service] and AC/DC Contracting helped me out with sponsorship this year,” Prisk said.
When we spoke to Prisk on Monday, he was still pretty sore and expects to be for another week or two.
