Danielle Foot makes history at Finke
The 22-year-old from Victoria was not only the fastest female at Finke, but also completed a historic double finishVictorian off-road racer Danielle Foot has planted her name in the history books at the 2022 Finke Desert Race, becoming the first female to successfully complete the coveted 'double'.
At just 22-years old, Foot took on a challenge to complete the Finke course not once, but twice – first as a co-driver, navigating for her father Ashley Foot in a Can-Am Maverick 900cc Turbo, then jumping in a helicopter back to the start line each day to complete the course again on a Husqvarna TE 250i.
Competing in a bike field of over 500 entrants, Foot crossed the finish line 82nd outright with a solid overall time of 4:58:32.6. The Moriac resident finished 1st overall in her respective class (combined with males) and 1st overall in the female category.
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In the car division, the father/daughter duo came home in 66th outright, completing the course in a total time of 5:06:26.3.
On paper, these results are impressive, but when you break it down even further, Foot’s heroics become even more obvious.
Completing the double is no easy feat. The course from Alice to Finke covers 226km of brutal, ever-changing terrain. Featuring soft sand, thick blinding dust, rocks, endless whoops, ruts, and trees, the track is one of a kind. One small mistake, lapse of concentration, or mechanical error, and your race is over. Foot managed to run that risk four times in total with success.
Having run the course once in a buggy, with the help of her team, Foot then embarked on a helicopter trip from one end to the other. The trip didn’t run so smooth for her on the Day 2 when, in the mad rush, she didn’t get to the start line at Finke in time for to line up on the grid in 92nd place. She was subsequently demoted back to approximately 400th position on the grid, which meant she had to have the run of her life in order to not get held up with the convoy of bikes in front of her.
To put it in numbers over the course of 48 hours, the 22-year-old covered a combined distance in the seat of 904 kilometres in a total time of 10 hours, 4 minutes, and 58 seconds.
I think we’ll be seeing a lot more from this legendary 22-year-old.
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