Garland to start 7th after prologue | Safari Day 1

Isuzu Motorsports Australasian Safari entries to start 7th, 12th, and 18th after Glengarry Prologue.

The 2014 Australasian Safari desert rally kicked off in Western Australia yesterday, with competitors taking to the 10km Glengarry Prologue to determine the starting order for Sunday's first day of competition.

Isuzu Motorsports' Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki will start 7th. Their Dakar-spec D-MAX ute completed the stage with a time of 9:25, 47 seconds behind the pace-setting Riley Motorsports Holden VF of Steve Riley and John Doble.

Western Australia's own Adrian Di Lallo and Roger Pedersen finished 12th, a further 14 seconds behind, in their production-class Isuzu MU-X while the Isuzu Motorsports Thailand effort of OLan Sorniriat and Veerachai Thorangkoon in a production-class D-MAX ute finished 18th, second in class behind Di Lallo and 1:37 behind the leader.

Garland said the Isuzu Motorsports teams were taking a laid back approach to the first day. "We all took it pretty easy out there and we're all pretty happy with our pace," he said.

"There's a long way to go before the finish next weekend and if you push too hard too soon, it's very easy to come unstuck."

Di Lallo, who is looking to take a class victory at rally's end, said his MU-X is performing well. "The car is going really well and feels strong and quick," he said.

"I'm happy with it and think we'll do well in the production class."

The next leg sees the field take on the first competitive stages of the Australasian Safari. The run from Utakarra to Murchison comprises three timed stages at Greenough River (88.48km long), Murchison River (167.14km) and Murchison Oasis (26.22km).