Motorex KTM Off Road Racing’s Brad Williscroft captured a record fifth straight Kamfari Mud Race victory in Darwin, Northern Territory, on Sunday, 1 May.

Williscroft rode to a popular and hard-fought victory aboard KTM’s 450 EXC Enduro model in the 40th running of the gruelling four-hour affair, contested over a series of 12-kilometre laps that amounted in 16-18 minutes of action per lap.

“I knew that Jehi Willis would be my main competition amongst a few good locals, but on the second lap I drowned my bike under water,” Williscroft said. “I spent 10 minutes getting it going – drained the carburettor and put a spare air filter in – and then started battling back up the order from there.

“I slowly chipped away at the lead and in about an hour and a half I caught up to Jehi. We battled back and forth and then I had to fuel, but since I had an oversize tank on I only had to fuel once. It came down to the last lap and I ended up getting past him in this one section before the finish line when he got bogged down in the mud.

“I was able to get around him and went across the finish line to win by just a couple of bike lengths. It was an awesome finish and the crowd really appreciated it in what was the 40th anniversary of the event. The reliability of the 450 EXC is just unbelievable – I couldn’t believe I was able to get it going again.”

The victory marks Motorex KTM Off Road Racing team manager Williscroft’s sixth in total, also winning the prestigious event in 2004.

The 2011 event saw around 100 riders start the race on the treacherous circuit filled with swamps, creeks, dense bush and deep sand sections, however more than a third of the field failed the complete the race.