X-adventure Raid Series
Showdown Down Under
Rob / 27.08.2004
For what promises to be a cut and thrust finale the world’s best adventure racing teams will discover their fourth continent of the season, after Africa, the United States and Europe. At the heart of the immense state of Western Australia, which covers close to one third of the Australian continent, the 23 mixed teams enrolled to date will have to confront a wilderness teeming with flora, fauna and terrain quite unlike anything they have encountered before.
The state of Western Australia’s outback region is bordered to the East by an endless expanse of desert, while in the west it is delimited by one of the most pristine coastlines the world has to offer, stretching 12,500 kilometres. Nestled between these two imposing natural boundaries is a majestic mosaic, covering no fewer than 1 million square miles, of gorges, forests, pure white sand beaches and dazzling tropical coral reefs.
The course, in the Kalbarri National Park which is includes the sinuous, snaking Murchison River, is in total contrast to the previous stage held last July in the Alps of France and Italy. This route is smooth and fast overall (with only 1,500m of climbing) and set among the habitats of grey and red kangaroos, wallabies and humpback whales, which follow their time honoured migratory routes along the shipwreck coast off Kalbarri.
Kiwi’s Put Pressure on Top Australian Teams
Though qualification has already been achieved for teams like Saab Salomon (Gb), Salomon Suisse (Ch) and Les Arcs-Quechua (Fra), the latter two teams having opted opt out of the trip to Australia. It’s a very different story for many teams, forced to undertake a long journey in search of the elusive points necessary to ensure qualification in November’s World Championship decider in Argentina.
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