Australia's Red Centre is inhospitable country. It's dry and dusty, with a scattering of scrub that barely shades a surface baked to an iron crust by an unrelenting sun. In these harsh conditions, a field of buggies, Bajas, bikes and 4WD family wagons will do battle in the 16th running of the Australian Safari.

It's a killer of an event: eight days of competition covering more than 2600 miles and running from Alice Springs, almost dead-centre of Australia, to Darwin, the country's northernmost port city. This year's Safari runs from August 19-26 inclusive.

While the event has long attracted Australian and international enduro riders, keen to test their machines and skills against all the Australian desert can throw at them, the Safari will this year double as round four of the Federation Internationale Motocycliste (FIM) Cross Country Rallies World Cup.

As exciting as this coup is for both competitors and organisers, there are some more 'everyday' names already locked in. While former 500cc world champion, Kevin Schwantz (13th last year) is too busy for a return visit, Australia's own 500cc star Daryl Beattie will be among the starters.

Beattie, who finished second to countryman Mick Doohan in the 1995 championship, is making his offroad racing debut on a Honda XR650. He's already phoned his former team-mate - Schwantz - for some tips on tackling the desert terrain!

"Kevin says the hardest thing about this event is learning to read the pace notes and maps while you're actually riding the bike. I've had a chance to practise that because I've been out near Alice Springs checking out the bike and the sort of terrain I'll be riding on, so hopefully it will all come together." Daryl Beattie

Returning for a second time to the event is multiple Middle East Open motocross champion Steve Blackney who is keen to make up for last year when he finished seventh - he was slowed by an early accident which shattered a finger and took painkillers in order to finish the event. The Dubai-based rider - who is a former World Cup series contender - later spent three days in a Darwin hospital after the wound became infected.

"The KTM is good on the flat, open stages, but the Honda is lighter and I think it will be better suited to the variety of conditions you come across on the Safari," Blackney says. "I've been riding an XR650 in some desert enduro races near Dubai over the last few months so I'm familiar with the bike and what needs to be done to make it competitive." Steve Blackney

Also on the way back for another attempt is London-based Australian, Andrew Coaker, who has raced in the prestigious Paris-Dakar and several World Cup series events. He failed to finish this year's opener in Tunisia but took seventh in the Spanish round.

However, Coaker's final preparations for the Safari have been hindered - a British off-road event which he planned to use as a last-minute shakedown before leaving for Australia had to be cancelled because of Britain's ongoing Foot and Mouth Disease crisis.

Coaker is aiming for a top-three podium finish in Australia. He has made three previous starts in the Safari during the past five years, with a best result of eighth in 1996.

Stephen Greenfield

Blackney, Coaker and Beattie will be keen to do battle with California's Casey McCoy who took second in the Moto division last year and is returning to try for one spot higher on the podium, but he's not their only serious rival. This year's Moto division also includes last year's winner Andy Caldecott and the1999 winner, Stephen Greenfield, who missed last year's event after dislocating a shoulder in a fall while racing in Nevada.

'Greenie' is from Alice Springs so the Safari course is very familiar territory. Not surprisingly, he's also a three-time winner of the Finke Desert Race, the traditional precursor to the Safari and run south of Alice Springs in June.

Caldecott will run a 2001 works-backed KTM in the bid to defend his title, while Greenfield shares official Honda backing with Beattie. Blackney will run a Honda XR650 after tackling last year on a KTM 660 - which is the bike of choice this year for Coaker.

McCoy will stick with Honda, but is this year opting for the more powerful XR650 like many of his rivals, rather than the XR400 he ran last year.

"Moving up to the 650 will give me a bit more top speed, and that's where I lost out to the bigger bikes on the flat-out stages last time," McCoy says. "The extra speed and horsepower I'll now have will save me up to 15-minutes on the long sections and that could be the difference between winning and losing." Casey McCoy

McCoy's preparation for the Safari has included lengthy training stints in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near Yosemite National Park, where he is general manager of a ski lodge.

In the Auto Division, the team to beat is three-time champion Bruce Garland and his long-time navigator, Harry Suzuki. The defending champions will contest this year's event in a new car and new livery, courtesy of new sponsor, Holden, the Australian affiliate of Opel, Isuzu and General Motors.

While previous events have been run and won in an Isuzu Jackaroo (a re-badged Isuzu Trooper), the pair will this year drive what is now called a Holden Jackaroo. They will share the official Holden banner with an Australian motorsport legend - multiple touring car champion Peter Brock. Brock has contested the Safari before and in 1998 was runner-up to Garland in the three-week Round Australia Rally.

Despite being a favourite, Garland has some stiff competition from other seasoned campaigners including father-and-son pairing Terry and Michael Denham who were second to him last year. Last year the Denhams led for three days before being slowed by several punctures which allowed the Jackaroo to take the lead. They'll again run a Mitsubishi Montero.

"That was my best result in 13 starts in the Safari and obviously I'm keen to go one better and win it this year," Denham says. "We've stripped the car back to virtually nothing and done a lot of work on it. It will be the best vehicle we've ever had in the event in performance terms." Michael Denham

Given the vagaries of motorsport, an outside chance for a podium finish is 59-year-old Bob Land, from Lake Forest, California, who finished ninth outright (and first in class) last year. Returning for a third tilt at the Safari, Land will drive the same Isuzu Trooper he ran last year.

The experienced campaigner's first attempt at the event was in 1999 when he raced an Isuzu Vehi-Cross, attracting a great deal of interest because the vehicle is not available in Australia. He'll be navigated by Paul Connolly, 30, of Glendora, California, making his third visit for the event but only the second stint in the passenger seat.

"I'm really looking forward to the Safari because it's one of my favorite races," Land says. "The course is a great challenge, and I have built some lasting friendships with many of the competitors. It will be a thrill to return to the Northern Territory once again!" Bob Land

Aside from the Safari, Land is participating in the SCORE International Desert Series. He is currently in second place in the Stock Mini Class points chase for the 2001 season.

There have been several major changes made to this year's Safari in line with expanding local and international interest in the event - and for practicality's sake. Among the differences for 2001 is a new rule allowing for two daily service stops instead of one. It will keep the field tighter and at close to full strength, as mechanical problems can be fixed with less time lost.

Also new for this year is a Prologue which will determine starting positions for the field. All competitors will tackle a four-mile course on the outskirts of Alice Springs - those with the fastest times will start first in their respective division.

Defending Auto champion Bruce Garland has welcomed the Prologue, and not just for its appeal to spectators.

"I'll be dead keen to win the Prologue because it means you don't have to deal with the dust from cars in front which can slow you down. The rest of the event will be about endurance and reliability so it will be good to have a 'rip and bust' sprint at the start to get the adrenaline pumping." Bruce Garland

Other changes have been made to the class structure of the event. Aside from the Moto division bikes which are divided into two categories (World Cup and International Moto) with four classes in each, including quads, there is the long-standing Auto category.

It covers six classes including showroom and modified 4WD vehicles such as those driven by Garland, Denham and Land, as well as 2WD vehicles ranging from buggies through to Baja, cross-country and enduro trucks.

New to the event this year is the Rally and Lightweight 4WD category which includes five classes covering historic rally cars, 2WD and 4WD production cars and lightweight 4WD vehicles.

Entrants in this section of the event will do a slightly shorter (2300 miles) and less demanding course than the bikes and hard-core Safari cars (2672 miles). Only 36 per cent of the rally division is made up of competitive stages for against-the-clock racing, as against 65 per cent for the Moto and Auto division racers.

This year will mark the 16th running of the event which started life as the Wynns' Safari in 1985. Clerk of course, Bob Carpenter, has been with the Safari since its inception. Each year he designs the course and carries out the massive survey work and logistical planning involved in running a major motorsport event.

Early events were more 'national' with competitors travelling thousands of miles from Sydney to Darwin. The current Northern Territory-only format, from Alice Springs to Darwin, was first adopted in 1999 but there have been several different versions along the way. The event has the full backing of the Northern Territory government.

There have been several changes to this year's course, all finally mapped out during an intensive six-week run designed to lock in precise distances and route map details for the competitors' roadbooks.

Alice Springs is fully booked out in the lead-up to the event - and the town awaits. The Prologue and Day One start just outside town. From there the entire field, and its officials and back-up crews, move slowly north. While there is hotel and campground accommodation along the route, many will simply roll out the traditional Australian campbed ('swag') each night and fall asleep under the black velvet desert sky.

Visit the Official Australian Rallye Website for complete coverage.