David Walsh wins bittersweet 2026 Finke Desert Race

David Walsh has won a bittersweet Finke Desert Race, adding a sixth title to his résumé and giving Honda its first win in 13 years.

The Alice Springs local returned for the event's 50th anniversary after a year of “retirement”, joining the newly-formed factory-backed Peter Kittle Honda team in a surprise switch from KTM.

Walsh started on the front row with teammate and 2025 winner Corey Hammond, but quickly regained his race-winning form, reaching the first checkpoint at Deep Well nearly 40 seconds clear.

Hammond eventually suffered a mechanical failure but managed to heroically walk his bike more than 2km to reach the Finke overnight checkpoint.

Walsh had a clear track ahead of him on the return trip to Alice Springs on Day 2 and crossed the finish line six minutes ahead of Campbell Hall (KTM) in second place, and his cousin, Liam Walsh (KTM), who was another four minutes back in third. Hammond finished 18th outright.

The win marked Honda's first outright win since Todd Smith in 2013, and its 21st outright win in the event's 50-year history.

Two-time podium finisher Callum Norton gave Ducati its first outing at Finke and finished 13th overall after a challenging race. He finished 337th in the prologue following a hard crash and was forced to fight his way through the pack and immense dust to make up more than 300 places in the main race.

Madi Healey took out the “Queen of the Desert” title as the fastest female, finishing 52nd outright, while Danielle Foot completed the bike race in 125th place outright after attempting the “double” by also entering the car class.

But while there were many stories of triumph and tribulation over the three-day event, the race was sadly marred by the tragic death of a competitor on Day 1.

Matthew Bielefeld crashed on the first leg of the two-day race and, while police and paramedics attended to him, he could not be revived.

Walsh told media following the race that he knew Bielefeld "pretty well" and said his death had “touched home pretty hard”.

In a statement, Bielefeld’s family thanked emergency services, competitors and the Finke committee for their support and said they were mourning their “beautiful boy, brother to Scott, partner to Rhylee”.

“If anyone knew Matthew, you would know he was a character larger than life itself and lit up any room he walked into,” the family said.

The last Finke-related death was in 2021, when spectator Nigel Harris was struck by a car that had lost control and left the racetrack. Significant safety measures were introduced following that incident.