5 d ay s o f
sport 2012 A4DE
24
Deep in Victoria’s picturesque Warragul region, iKapture Images’ Greg Smith spent five hectic days hunting down Australia’s best off-road racers. His mission? To showcase the Australian 4-Day Enduro like never before. This is the pick of his enduring images. andy wigan
ikapture images
s a motocross racer, how do you define a long, tough day? Getting lapped? Running out of tear-offs? Bending your trick new fat bars? Being unceremoniously peppered with roost and copping a few welts? Okay, no one’s suggesting that motocross is a mincer’s game, but whatever the torment, at least motocross riders can take solace in the fact it’ll only last for 30 minutes. For off-road racers, a tough day takes on a completely different, more relentless complexion. Whether they’re carrying a physical injury, nursing an ailing machine or struggling with a bike set-up that doesn’t suit the conditions, enduro racers can be up against adversity for seven or eight hours a day. At an event like the Australian 4-Day Enduro, they not only do it for four days in a row; they’re
also obliged to cover around 250km each day, plus perform all their own mechanical work and tyre changes. And all for what? A slap on the back and a finisher’s medallion the size of a 50-cent piece! Admittedly, Australia’s elite-level racers stand to take home more than a small medal if they win the 4-Day, but the fact remains that off-road racing tends to attract the die-hard purists of the dirt bike world; guys who do it for the love of the sport and the satisfaction of getting through it. Alive! Riders were never under the illusion that this year’s 4-Day would be any easier than any of its 34 predecessors. Organisers sang the same old tune about the 2012 event being “doable for the average trailrider, but still varied and challenging for the fast guys”, but a quick recce of the course soon reassured entrants that it would be no cake-walk. With
Victoria’s Warragul region experiencing the wettest winter in 53 years, there was no risk of a repeat of the dusty conditions that plagued the Warragul-based 4-Days in 2004 and 2008, but the sodden terrain in 2012 brought with it a whole raft of fresh challenges. With a combination of long transport sections, sweeping grasstracks and super-tight enduro tests, bike set-up would be a best-guess compromise. Staged just three weeks after Team Australia’s historic result at the ISDE, the 2012 4-Day seemed to take on a greater significance than in previous years. It was accompanied by a sense of anticipation, as spectators realised that the domestic event would showcase the talents of riders who’d recently upstaged the world’s best; guys who were battlehardened and primed to step it up on home turf. And that’s exactly what the Warragul event delivered.
25