The Australasian Safari was an
off-road motor sport
''Motor Sport'' is a monthly motor racing magazine, founded in the United Kingdom in 1924
as the ''Brooklands Gazette''. The name was changed to ''Motor Sport'' for the August 1925 issue. The magazine covers motor sport in general, although from ...
racing event held in Australia between 1985 and 2014.
History
The Australasian Safari was first run in 1985 and held under the International Sporting Code of
FIM
FIM may refer to:
Organizations and companies
* Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation
* Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States
* Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media
* ...
and from 1999, the General Competition Rules of
Motorcycling Australia
Motorcycling Australia is the governing body for motorcycle racing in Australia, covering road racing, motocross, trials, supercross, dirt track, supermoto and speedway. Motorcycling Australia is affiliated with the international governing ...
.
It was usually held around the end of August, in the Australian winter, and covered approximately 5,500 kilometres, mostly through the
Outback
The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...
in just over a week. Like the
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...
, the vehicle classes involved were motorcycles and cars, however there were no truck class. From 2008, a quad class was introduced.
The event grew in size and scope for the first few years. In 1988, Australia's
Bicentennial year, the event was tagged "The Big One" and was expanded to cover 10,000 km in 15 days, with a start in
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
and traveling across the
Tanami Desert
The Tanami Desert is a desert in northern Australia, situated in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
It has a rocky terrain with small hills, and cacti. The Tanami was the Northern Territory's final frontier and was not fully explored b ...
, through the
Kimberley region
The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy Desert, Great Sandy and Tanami Desert, Tanami deserts ...
into
Darwin, across the
Gulf Country of far northwest
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
and an eventual finish in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
. Out of 196 starting vehicles, only 96 finished the race.
Initially known as the
Wynn's
Illinois Tool Works Inc. or ITW is an American Fortune 500, Fortune 200 company that produces engineered Fastener, fasteners and components, equipment and consumable systems, and specialty products. It was founded in 1912 by Byron L. Smith and h ...
Safari for commercial reasons, the event was renamed in 1989 to the Australian Safari, and to the Australasian Safari in 2008. From 2007 the event was hosted in Western Australia.
Between 1994 and 1997 the event was included in the
FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup
The FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies was a rally raid series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver, co-driver, and team; with additional trophies awarded to T2 and T3 drivers & teams.
Starting with the 2011 season, the p ...
. It was last held in 2014 after
Tourism Western Australia
Tourism Western Australia is the statutory authority responsible for promoting Western Australia as a tourist destination.
Its earlier predecessors included The Department of Tourism and the Tourism Commission.
See also
* Tourism Australia
* ...
withdrew its funding for the event.
Western Australia to pull plug on safari
''Speedcafe
Speedcafe.com is an Australian-based motorsport news website that launched on 23 October 2009. The site had over 50 million page views in 2020.
Speedcafe.com is a source of news and race reports for the Supercars Championship, Formula One, and oth ...
'' 25 June 2014
Results
See also
* Baja 1000
The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from six continents. The race was founded by Ed Pearl ...
* Budapest-Bamako
The Budapest-Bamako or Great African Run is a charity car race in Africa, and the largest amateur rally in the world. It is a low-budget version of the Dakar Rally, and goes from Budapest, Hungary to Bamako, Mali through t ...
* Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...
* Finke Desert Race
The Finke Desert Race, or Tatts Finke Desert Race, an off-road, multi-terrain two-day race for motorbikes, cars, buggies and quad bikes through desert country from Alice Springs to the small and remote community of Aputula (called ''Finke ...
* Offroad racing
Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.).
North America Desert racing
Desert ...
* Plymouth-Banjul Challenge
The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge or unofficially the Ultimate Banger Challenge and previously known as the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, is an annual car event for charity. It is not a race or a competition as its website states. It was first run in 20 ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Australasian Safari Homepage
Detailed Report of 2002 Event - Off-Road.com
Motorcycle races
Rally raid races
Recurring sporting events established in 1985
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2014
1985 establishments in Australia
2014 disestablishments in Australia
Motorsport in the Northern Territory
Motorsport in Western Australia
Motorcycle racing in Australia