Finke Desert Race

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Tatts Finke Desert Race - Australia's Fastest & Greatest Desert Race
Inaugural event	1976
Official Website	http://www.finkedesertrace.com.au/

The Finke Desert Race, or Tatts Finke Desert Race, an off-road, multi-terrain two-day race for motorbikes, cars, buggies and quad bikes through desert country from Alice Springs to the small and remote community of Aputula (called Finke until the 1980s) in Australia's Northern Territory. The race is usually held each year on the Queen's Birthday long weekend in June. "Finke", as it is commonly known, is one of the biggest annual sporting events in the Northern Territory.^[1]

The track[]

Encompassing about 229 km each way, the Finke Desert Race travels through many properties on its way to end up crossing the Finke River just north of Aputula (previously known as Finke township). The Track is divided into 5 sections:

• Start/Finish Line to Deep Well (61 km)
• Deep Well to Rodinga (31 km)
• Rodinga to Bundooma (43 km)
• Bundooma to Mt Squires (45 km)
• Mt Squires to Finke (49 km)

History[]

There and back[]

The race started in 1976 as a "there and back" challenge for a group of local motorbike riders to race from Alice Springs to the Finke River and return. After the success of this initial ride, the Finke Desert Race has been held annually on the Queen's Birthday long weekend ever since. The race is run along sections of what was the Old Ghan railway service track adjacent to the railway line along a winding corrugated track, which snakes through typical outback terrain of red dirt, sand, spinifex, mulga and desert oaks. Even though the railway was realigned and rebuilt in the early 1980s, with the old tracks being pulled up, the race continues along its original course.

King of the desert[]

While originally the Finke was only a bike race, its increasing popularity saw the introduction of cars and off-road buggies in 1988. A rivalry developed between the two and four wheelers, as the buggies were keen to claim the holy grail of the race outright winner or "King of the Desert" as it is known. For 11 consecutive years the bikes were too quick for the cars despite the gap constantly narrowing. Finally in 1999, a buggy returned home first to claim the honour. With the bikes winning back the title in 2000 and 2001. From 2002 until 2004 the buggies held onto the "King of the Desert" title. In 2005 the title was changed to see two "Kings of the Desert", one for the cars and one for bikes, each picking up $10,000 for their effort. Although the bikes and cars no longer race against each other for the title, it is always interesting to see who completes the 460 km round trip quickest. The last bike to beat the cars time was Michael Vroom in 2001 on his Honda CR500.^{[citation needed]}

COVID-19 impact[]

The 2020 race was cancelled for the first time in the event's history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This cost the economy of Alice Springs about A$8 million.^[2] In 2021 about 200 Victorian competitors, plus race officials, were unable to attend when the Northern Territory classed all of Victoria as a hot spot after the state entered its fourth lockdown.^[3]

2021 fatal crash[]

During the 2021 race, one of the racing vehicles struck spectators just 35 kilometres short of the finish line. One person was killed and two others, including the driver, hospitalised. The remainder of the event was subsequently cancelled, meaning the bike race was not completed and no winner announced that category.^[4] The buggy category had already been won earlier that morning. The winning racer, Toby Price, had previously won in the bike category six times, and therefore became the first person to have won in both the bike and buggy categories.^[5]

Winners[]

• 1976 BIKES

Geoff Curtis, Yamaha 250, NT

• 1977 BIKES

Phil Stoker, Suzuki 370, NT

• 1978 BIKES

Geoff Curtis, Yamaha 500, NT

• 1979 BIKES

Peter Stayt, Yamaha 500, NT

• 1980 BIKES

Geoff Curtis, Yamaha 400, NT

• 1981 BIKES

Phil Lovett, KTM 390, NSW

• 1982 BIKES

Phil Lovett, KTM 495, NSW

• 1983 BIKES

Stephen Gall, Yamaha 490, NSW

• 1984 BIKES

Peter Stayt, Yamaha 490, NT

• 1985 BIKES

Phil Lovett, KTM 495, NSW time 03:41:30

• 1986 BIKES

Stephen Gall, Yamaha 500, NSW

• 1987 BIKES

David Armstrong, Kawasaki 500, QLD

• 1988

BIKES – Alan Roe, Honda 500, NT
CARS – John Fidler/Peter Lewis, Corvette, NT

• 1989

BIKES – Mark Winter, Honda 500, NT
CARS – Gary Nicolle/Jo Reed, Buggy, NT

• 1990

BIKES – Mark Winter, KTM 540, NT
CARS – Gary Nicolle/Neil Shegog, Buggy, NT

• 1991

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT
CARS – Keith Poole/Peter Walker, Buggy, SA

• 1992

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT
CARS – Greg Schlein/David Fellows, Buggy, NT

• 1993

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT
CARS – Steven Graydon/Tony Graydon, Buggy, WA

• 1994

BIKES - Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT

• 1995

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT

• 1996

BIKES – Dan Ashcraft, Honda 500, USA

• 1997

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda 500, NT

• 1998

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda 500, NT

• 1999

BIKES – Rick Hall, Honda 500, NT

• 2000

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda CR500, NT

• 2001

BIKES – Michael Vroom, Honda CR500, NT

• 2002

BIKES – Rick Hall, Honda CR500, NT

• 2003

BIKES – Darren Griffiths, KTM 540, WA

• 2004

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda CRF 450, NT

• 2005

BIKES – Jason Hill, Honda CRF 450, NT

• 2006

BIKES – Ryan Branford, Honda CRF 450, NT

• 2007

BIKES – Ben Grabham, Honda CRF450R, NSW

• 2008

BIKES – Ben Grabham, Honda CRF450R , NSW time 4:04:43.02

• 2009

BIKES – Ben Graham, KTM 505 XC-F, NSW time 4:01:26.60

• 2010

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 450 SX-F , NSW time 4:03:25.62

• 2011

BIKES - Ben Grabham, KTM 450 SX-F , NSW time 3:58:59.60

• 2012

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 450SXF, NSW time 3:57:03

• 2013

BIKES – Todd Smith, Honda CRF450R, NSW time 04:02:08

• 2014

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC, NSW time 03:56:29

• 2015

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC, NSW time 03:52:54

• 2016

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC, NSW time 03:46:55

• 2017

BIKES – Daymon Stokie, YAMAHA WR500F, NT time 04:11:12

• 2018

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC-F, NSW time 03:55:25.1

• 2019

BIKES – David Walsh, KTM 500EXC, NSW time 03:56:01

• 2020

BIKES – Not run due to coronavirus lockdown

See also[]

• Australian Off Road Championship

References[]

External links[]

• Official website