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SR75 Suzuki has raced its V-Strom 800DE Rally to fifth in class at this year's Dawn to Dusk Enduro.
Ridden solo by Geoff Walker, the 800DE lined up alongside swathes of competition enduro machines. Held at Walter's Arena in Wales, the event incorporated sections that also featured in the FIM Hard Enduro Championship.
Starting at 19:00 on Saturday with a Le Mans-style start, the race didn't get off to the best start for Walker, despite taking an early class lead. A sizeable crash resulted in the need for a stop to repair the foot peg, as well as the rider taking a hit to the knee. The stoppage cost the team an hour of daylight track time.
Despite the stoppage, the team and rider continued to churn the laps out through the night and the following day, enduring the challenging conditions to complete 18 laps and take fifth in class.
Walker said afterwards, "I made a good start but took an extreme line in the arena section, made a mistake and it got a bit wild, and it was a pretty big crash. I damaged my knee pretty badly and it ripped the footpeg off the bike completely.
"We got the bike back to the pits and the crew did an amazing job to get the bike back together and get me back out there, but it cost us a lot of time, and crucial time, too, in the daylight, which is when you get the fast laps in and learn the track.
"We were playing catchup after that but the team did an amazing job in the pits for the full 24 hours, battling the tiredness and fatigue, and the bike ran faultlessly throughout. Some teams were using multiple bikes to get through the event, but - other than the crash - we didn't have to lay a spanner on it. Thanks to everyone that's part of the SR75 team for making it happen."