King Shocks Racers take top two spots in the grueling Australasian Safari.

The challenging Western Australian terrain would be a true test for 90 truck, bike and quad competitors from all over the world in the 2011 Australasian Safari. The safari covers 1600 miles in seven days of challenging stages that traversed a mix of fast graded roads, soft sand, unexpected washouts and rocky riverbeds. The Team of Steve Riley and John Doble, (2008 and 2009 overall winners), drove a smart race in their King Shocks equipped, 500hp Mitsubishi, Montero. After finishing third in the prologue, the team took the early lead after stage one. Over the next three days they maintained a steady pace that kept them in a solid second place overall. On day five, the team took the lead and stayed out front for the remainder of the safari finishing one hour and fifty minutes ahead of the second place team. Steve and John know from their experience that you have to keep a fast pace without pushing so hard that you crash or damage the vehicle. The two finished with a few wrinkled body panels after a close encounter with a tree but overall they drove with controlled aggression adding another impressive win to their Australasian Safari tally.           In their first attempt at the Australasian safari, King Shocks racers John Purshouse and Dave McShane marched through the field to finish 2^nd overall. Their self-built Mitsubishi, Triton was completed only a few days before the start, which gave them virtually no time for testing. After finishing 13^th in the prologue, the team showed immediate results. They quickly moved up to 7^th after the first stage and then to 5^th at the end of the first day. Each day they consistently got better climbing to 4^th, 3^rd and then 2^nd on day six. “The only problem we had was when I drove off the road in the first stage,” said John Purshouse, “I was trying to win on the first day and that doesn’t work. After that, I settled down and concentrated on driving neat and making sure we could find our way. I was absolutely ecstatic with the vehicle. The main changes made were to tweak a little more torque out of the engine and install King shocks to handle the rough terrain. We hoped to just finish and if we did, our next goal was to get in the top ten. To go out there and finish second in our first event in something we built ourselves was unbelievable.” The brutal conditions in the Australian Outback place huge demands on a vehicle and its drivers. You need the most durable and best performing shocks available. King shocks’ highly refined damping technology has been race proven in the harshest environments around the world. That’s why teams who race to win choose King Shocks. When you ride on Kings you will know, there really is a difference. Nothing else rides like a King. Photos by: Max Sullivan