A Mopar Hemi powered Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited driven by American Clive Skilton and navigated by Australian Gordon Trigg took first place honors in the Showroom Stock Division (Class AO6) of the Australian Safari Rally starting near Darwin Aug 24th and finishing in Perth Sept 1st.

Jeep team entrant Colin Hunter and crew chief Stewart Knowles also ran a 2.8 liter diesel Cherokee (U.S. Liberty) driven by Simon Campbell.

The Australian Safari Rally is a 9 day race across 3.300 miles of the Western Australia outback. The format is similar to the Dakar Rally with special stages, liason stages and overnight bivouac service.

After scrutineering and documentation on Aug 22nd and 23rd teams were given the event guide full of useful information like how to handle snake bites, dehydration,what to do about expired air resuscitation casualty not breathing, pulmonary resuscitation,heat exhaustion, etc. Plus tips regarding avoidance of crocodiles, kangaroos, camels, emus' and wild boars. Interestingly, in true Aussie tradition you could drink beer in the service area as long as you stopped 6 hours before start time.

The rally had Police escort to help smooth the way through populated areas. BP petroleum had dual tanker follow the event with high grade gasoline.

Each vehicle is equipped with UHF radio and all competitors are on the same wavelength. The radio is to be used to request overtaking. A booster system is used to contact race control if needed, and a 60 second mike time-out is used to prevent jamming.

The course is unannounced and the teams are given route books each evening to give navigators a few hours preparation.

The shortest day was 231miles and the longest 463 miles

 Clive Skilton drove at a 9 day disciplined pace to 1st Place Production Class AO6 over mountains, desert, salt flats, sand dunes, forest, rocks and flooded trails. Temperatures varied from 106 degree tropical north to chilly 38 degrees south in Australia's winter. The biggest obstacle was overcoming nerves when navigator calls  "flat out no obstacles for 15 kilometers". That's a long way pedal to the metal with a 400 horsepower Mopar Hemi Jeep at about 120 mph driving down a dirt tunnel with a fence line on the left, trees on the right, and the odd kangaroo ready to cross your path!

Four time Safari navigator winner Gordon Trigg was perfect throughout the event never getting the team lost and incurring no penalties.

This a prestigious win for the American Jeep team who hope to return in 2008.

Simon Campbell,s Extereme Motorsports Cherokee suffered a heartbreaking problem in the last 100 kms but still managed to finish giving the Jeep Team a 100% record at the 2007 Australian Safari Rally