2011 Finke Desert Race

It was a very different Long Weekend in Alice Springs this June. The 100 or so cars and 500 motorbikes that turned up for the annual Finke Desert Race were greeted with an icy wind instead of the usual warmth of the Red Centre making it an endurance test in more ways than one.

Heavy unseasonal rain during the weeks leading up to the race changed the nature of the annual 226km dash down the old railway alignment to the tiny settlement at Finke and back. The rain kept the dust down and almost $150,000 was spent on improving the track so many were predicting the records to tumble.

The weather and track changes delivered the promised fast times with Travis Robinson shaving almost two minutes off 2010 winner Dave Fellowes' time down to Finke on day one. The West Australian Robinson and co driver Paul Currie aboard the number 13 Jimco buggy would have luck befitting their race number on the return journey on Monday. They went out with a broken gearbox between Mt Squires and Bundooma early in the leg.

South Australian's Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings stunned the opposition by beating the buggies in their thundering Trophy Truck. It was the first time an Extreme 2WD class vehicle has beaten a buggy on the Finke and Gartner was clearly elated.

The SA pair in the Ford F150 took 3hrs 51mins and 45 seconds to complete the 452 km course beating home the local brothers, Andrew and Matthew Kittle, in their Toyota Jimco buggy, 6 mins 40 seconds behind after a fast and consistent run particularly on the return leg.

"We could have gone faster on the way down but then we couldn't have been in a position to win on day two," said Gartner.

"We paced ourselves on Sunday but we went hard on the return and it was a great run," he added

While the times were tumbling and top speeds high, the grippy track was taking its toll on drivelines along. Reigning Australian Off Road Champion, Dave Fellows saw his chances of a sixth victory in the race evaporate just 20 kilometres from the start on day one when his Toyota V6 turbo powered Jimco broke a driveshaft.

Fellows, who was shooting for a fourth straight Finke win, was able to change the shaft with the help of co driver Mark Bergamin and got back in the race.  Despite arriving into Finke in 24th spot on Sunday, a storming drive back up the track on Monday saw Fellows climb to ninth outright at the end of the race, picking up valuable Australian championship points.

It looked like it could be an Extreme 2WD class benefit on Sunday at Finke with two of the top three places taken by Trophy Trucks. The return leg proved tough for SA crew Brad Gallard/Scott Modistach in the Monster sponsored Chev who arrived second into Finke only to drop out with mechanical problems on the return. Geoff and Liz Roe relinquished an almost certain second spot after their Trophy Truck lost a wheel in the last few kilometres between Deep Well and the finish.

In third place at the Alice Springs finish line was the local crew of Greg Hicks and Shane Braitling in a Southern Cross Toyota completing the total race distance in a time of 3hrs 59mins 35seconds.

While 98 cars and buggies started it was again a capacity field of 500 bikes flagged away from Alice on Sunday afternoon with the defending champ Toby Price and the 2010 winner Ben Grabham expected to fight it out after the pair set first and second respectively in the prologue run off.

Price's race would not pan out the way it did in 2010 however, the KTM retiring with a mechanical issue just 35km shy of Finke on Sunday but not before the pair traded blows for almost 190km. Grabham led by 8 seconds at Deep Well and 11 seconds at Bundooma but at Mt Squires Price had a seemingly invincible 1min 32 second gap on Grabham after the Bathurst rider had fallen and injured his hand.

Grabham raced past the stricken Price bike to take the flag in Finke by 3mins 57 seconds from race debutante and fellow Motorex KTM rider Jarrod Bewley.

In great pain overnight and through leg two Grabham kept his injury a secret and powered through the return run to clinch his fourth win in the race finishing 1 min 38 seconds in front of Bewley who had a dream debut in the Finke to claim the second step on the podium at his first attempt.

It was a truly iron man effort by Grabham overcoming the pain to wrestle his bike back to Alice.

"The crash was really quick, it was nasty but it just happened really quick that I didn't know, I just clicked neutral and before I knew it I was on my head but I didn't think too much of it until I kept trying to press the starter and my thumb was actually folding back," Grabham said with a clearly painful laugh.

"I soldiered in on adrenalin I suppose and it wasn't too bad and thought it will be right on Sunday but then when I woke up through the night and found I couldn't move my wrist

"I woke up during the night in Finke and realised I was in trouble, I started to panic so I didn't sleep much after that," he added.

"I suppose I pulled myself together and told myself that in these desert races anything can happen and you just have to keep on hanging in there."

And that is exactly what Grabham did

Perennial podium place getter Ryan Branford from Alice Springs took the final step on the podium aboard his Husaberg unable to match the pace of the KTM in front.

The Finke is about much more than just a bunch of fast off road racers blasting through the desert. It is about the atmosphere, the challenge and the camaraderie that makes this event so attractive and so unique.

Along with the 500 bikes and 98 cars there are thousands who flock to the race each June, 75 percent from out of town making it a tourism boom for the Red Centre.

Race president Anthony Yoffa, himself a former rider in the race, says the event is like Christmas for Alice Springs businesses and is the biggest week of the year in terms of financial benefit for the region.

"People come here because it's fun and a challenge. It's fun to camp out on the track and it is a challenge for the competitors who also have fun and enjoy themselves which is why they keep coming back year after year in greater numbers," he explained.

AFL great Tony "Plugger" Lockett is better known for his record 1360 goals scored in top level Aussie Rules during a 19-year career that came to a close in 2002. These days Plugger works around his farm near Bowral in NSW but he aims to be in Alice Springs each June Long Weekend with his Honda 450 to race the Finke.

Despite severely hurting his wrist in practicing for the 2010 event, which was to have been his third tilt at the race, he didn't make the start but Plugger was back in 2011 for his third attempt, coming home in 320th outright and 28th in the 'over45 class'.

"I love this race, I love the atmosphere, I love the camaraderie and I love the challenge," Plugger told CarSales.

"I can't get up here every year but when I can I really like to be here, it is just a lot of fun", he added.

So after the 36th running of the legendary Finke it was clear that not even the  damp lead up or the icy temperatures could spoil the party. It might have been cold but it was a helluva lot of fun.