Story by John Maragozidis.
I am a mad keen long distance desert racer. This is what I have dreamed of when I was a kid. The CONDO 750 was always up there with FINKE and SAFARI in my books. I would contact event organizers constantly about doing a CONDO but the same old story about lack of event permits from the NSW government put a quick stop to this. Things turned around since then and now, for the third year running, quads have been included in this event.

2010 was my first year at Condo so I really had no idea what to expect. Condo is a navigational rally, just like Safari, so I had some experience with navigation but not with this event or the course lay out. I slept very wrong the night before prologue and woke up with a hell stiff neck, the type that gives you an instant head ache when you turn to one side. This combined with taking a few wrong turns set a really bad start for the first day.

Start of day one and I was still feeling really ordinary but seemed to loosen up as the day wore on. We had around 350km to cover today so I just plugged along and tried to not get lost. The course was fun and there were lots of interesting sections to negotiate. I found Paul Smith out there with a busted nav tower so we rode together for a while so he could find his way. To my surprise I was in second place at the end of day one with the leader 6 minutes ahead of me.

Start day two and I was feeling much better. My neck had freed up and I was motivated. I had to ride faster than the leader by 6 minutes for the rest of the day for a win. I pushed harder on the second day and was the fastest quad for the day closing the gap by 4 minutes. Fast yes, but not fast enough to claim a win. It did not matter. I had fun and this was my first Condo so I was very happy with the results.

This is a fun event and very affordable. The tracks are farm tracks mainly with some forest and scrub stuff thown in. They are not pre run to death and there are no whoops. A trail riders delight is really what it is. Even if you are not into competing, just to ride the course with a route sheet giving you warnings of what is ahead and to know that everyone is going in the same direction (usually) is worth the price of entry and the drive out there. Condo is now on my calendar for Easter every year. Hope to see you there.

 

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