Defending Australasian Safari Champion Todd Smith and brother Jacob Smith are gearing up for the toughest endurance race in the Asia Pacific region.

On board their GHR Honda Racing prepared CRF450Xs, the brothers, who dominated the 2011 event, are in Western Australia making the final preparations before the event kicks off with a ceremonial start this Friday.

The seven-day navigational event celebrates its 27th year in 2012 and will be tougher than ever with a changed route that commences and concludes in Geraldton. The GHR Honda team are aiming for their sixth outright victory in the bike class.

Todd Smith is confident his 2011 performance plus other recent results will put him in good stead for the 2012 event.

“My form coming off last year’s Safari win has been excellent,” he explained. “Condo and Yellow Mountain were excellent results and I came away with third at Finke.

“The background development for the team has been ongoing and the testing a couple of weeks back left us both with a sense of confidence.”

Jacob Smith is also using his 2011 experience to shape his 2012 expectations.

“Safari is all about putting yourself in a position to win it, but picking the right moment to do it,” Jacob added. “This year Todd and I are both approaching the race with the same mentality as we had last year.

“If we can get up the front in the prologue and then stay out of trouble for a few days then we’ll be on track for good things.”

The GHR Honda team is comprised of seven Honda CRF450X motorcycles, one TRX700XX quad and one buggy. Team entrants include three South Africans, one American and a total of five competitors in training for the 2013 Dakar Rally.