Image: Danny Wilkinson.

A trip of Tasmania for the 2019 KTM Australia Adventure Rallye has been hailed a success, with over 190 adventurers taking part in the five-day event.

Hosted between 24-29 March, there were 158 riders and over 30 support staff taking part, experiencing a wide mixture of conditions – including rain, snow and hail in the opening days – and terrains.

“Tasmania threw everything at us, which was good in the respect that adventure riding’s not necessarily meant to be all sunshine and perfectly-groomed trails,” commented KTM Australia general manager Jeff Leisk.

“It’s a type of riding that is there to test you and that was the great thing about this year’s event, because we had a mix of extreme weather over the first two days coming out of Cradle Mountain – it was really cold and wet – going down the west coast.

“That created a challenge for us all, however it came good once we arrived in Hobart and the sun started shining again. The conditions were nicer and we were able to experience a real diverse mix of terrain and environments.”

The five stages commenced at Cradle Mountain with layovers at Strahan, Hobart, Swansea, St Helens and Launceston along the way, amounting in as many as 1800-kilometres covered for those who incorporated each of the more challenging ‘breakout’ routes.

KTM Enduro Racing Team’s reigning national off-road champion Daniel Milner was a special guest and piloted the brand new KTM 790 Adventure R after it made a surprise appearance at the top of Jacobs Ladder on day four, much to the delight of guests participating in the rallye.

“I was able to experience the new KTM 790 Adventure R, which blew me away,” Milner reflected. “We made it a bit of a surprise for everyone and I was the lucky person who got to ride it, so that was really cool to get a feel for it in those conditions during a rallye.

“The weight is placed really low, so the first thing that I felt was just how nimble it is, but it still has all the strengths and comforts of an adventure bike. I was really impressed and had a great time over the course of the week with everybody at the event one again.”

Keep posted for a complete Destination feature to be posted on the 2019 KTM Australia Adventure Rallye Tasmania. The official preview film of the event is available to view now.