Mark Webber left the high-octane world of Formula One far behind today as he tackled the Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge in the pristine Freycinet National Park on the opening leg of the five-day adventure run.
Webber teamed with ironman legend Guy Andrews on the opening leg that took in orienteering, paddling, mountain biking, abseiling and running across a 55-kilometre course.
Tomorrow, Webber will head to India in a whistle-stop return trip to the UK as he returns to the world of Formula One and Andrews will finish the race with triathlete, Darren Clark. But the F1 adventurer finished competitively and enjoyed his time back on course in Tasmania.
"It's been an absolutely incredible first day," Webber said. "The weather has just been awesome, the mountain biking was just great, everything has gone like clockwork.
"It feels great to be back on the course. It's always the same in that you'd like to have had more preparation but its great just to be out there.
"I got a bit disappointed about slowing Guy down a little as we were hanging out with the French guys (Team Renault-Garmin) on the bike for quite a while, but I was a bit underdone there.”
What keeps Webber coming back to Tasmania is a passion for the event and the escape it provides.
“What I like about the event are just the people you meet,” he said. “It is a completely different world to what I normally operate in and I feel really comfortable here hanging out with these people.”
The man hanging out in his own back yard, Mark Padgett, was leading the field at the end of the opening day. He combined brilliantly with fellow Team Ironhouse member, and fellow-Tasmanian, Mark Hinder.
Padgett is an experienced adventure racer who lives on the Freycinet Peninsula and used that to his advantage.
"We had pretty good local knowledge as to where the check points were, so we were not having to look where the check points were early on,” he said.
“We got all the time credits as well (for doing extra distance). That was always our plan. The extra run takes about an hour but you get two hours of time credit, so it was definitely worth our while doing all the extra.
The French teams – Renault –Garmin 1 and 2 – are also expected to fight for a win, but they struggled with the conditions and jetlag on the opening day.
V8 Supercars star, Rick Kelly, crossed the line first with his Red Bull teammate, South African Ryan Sandes, but they did not do the extra distance so missed out on the time credits the other teams gained.
But Webber is in no doubt that the race is still an open affair with four days to go.
“Padge (Mark Padgett) is doing well, but I think Guy and Darren will move up on the final days and there will be other changes as the event unfolds,” he said.
“It's really tight at the top. There’s a fair bit of tactics going on with people looking at the optional legs that come with a time benefit, so that is good.
“When you do these five-day races it is so hard not to get ahead of yourself and push too hard to early, so there will be changes across the remaining days, I'm sure.
“It's really tight at the top. There’s a fair bit of tactics going on with people looking at the optional legs that come with a time benefit, so that should make it a pretty exciting event I’d reckon.”
The field tackles the Tasman Peninsula tomorrow before taking on Bruny Island on Friday, the Hartz Mountains on Saturday and finishing in Hobart on Sunday.
