Kate Peck's Finke Desert Race 2023 wrap-up

I was recently in the privileged position of hosting the livestream broadcast for the 47th running of Australia's greatest desert race – the Tatts Finke Desert Race. Stationed at the Start/Finish line in Alice Springs, it was an experience I'll never forget, and here is what went down.

The Finke Desert Race started as the 'There and Back' event in 1976 amongst local motorcyclists racing for beer and is held annually over the King’s Birthday long weekend. The concept is simple: take off from Alice Springs and ride full gas, wide open all the way down to Finke (Aputula) over 226km away. Once at Finke, you camp, fix your bike, grab a snag and take off the next day for the second 226km leg back to Alice Springs. Sounds simple, doesn't it? It is anything but. Known as one of the toughest desert races in the world, competitors come from across the country and the globe to race. This event is up there with Baja 1000 and has acted as proving ground for the Dakar Rally (just ask Toby Price).

Only the brave. For some, it is a bucket list adventure to tick off. For others, a top-five result could lead to factory team support. Just to cross the finish line at Alice Springs is the goal for most of the field, and it seems it's what keeps many coming back. You might start, but there is a very high chance you won't finish. I met many fathers and sons, many raising funds for different charities, and plenty of rider’s dead set having kittens. This year the race featured a women's class, with all 19 entrants finishing the race.

You walk away with a big fat $10k cheque if you take out the King of the Desert title and for the first year, the unofficial Queen of the Desert also receives cash. All other finishers receive the coveted railway spike from the old Ghan railway. It is a highly prized piece of steel in the off-road community and anyone who receives one deserves a standing ovation.

The terrain is quite varied, with red dirt, sand, rocks, mulga, spinifex and desert oaks. There are generally around 600 bike competitors that take off from the start line in short intervals, so you can only imagine the dust clouds. Also, beware of the whoops. They are a key feature of the race, and it's easy to come unstuck on them. And if the track isn’t hard enough on its own, the bike competitors normally race after the 150-odd car competitors have already made the trek. This means a lot of extra potholes, ruts, washouts, and bumps.

There was a lot of L'orange. It makes sense that the KTM 500 EXC-F is the bike of choice in the desert due to the manufacturer's dominance here with Toby Price and David Walsh, who have collectively won ten times on orange machines. To be competitive in the men’s competition, it helps to be on a 450-500cc bike, regardless of manufacturer. The women's class had Honda CRF250's shining through with great results.

That said, in a lineup of 500 bikes, I saw all kinds of other off-road motorcycles. For many it is whatever was in the garage. I ran into Mika Friebel on a very noisy two-stroke 250 Husqvarna and asked why she chose that bike. “It was all I had,” she replied.

I also met the Desert Dads, a humourous bunch of blokes who'll do anything to get away from their kids. They arrived looking on-point in modern-retro gear on their iconic 90's Honda XR600Rs.

And Dylan River, the local filmmaker behind the There and Back documentary, and son of fellow filmmaker Warwick Thornton, raced a big-bore Honda CR500R two-stroke – a model that famously won the race 15 times. I also saw an old DR-Z600 with a fuel tank the size of a bath and a zero-fuel stop strategy.

Setup is crucial, with suspension the main area of focus. Some riders consult desert-specific suspension specialists. Things to think about are tank size, number of fuel stops, tyre choice, Steg Pegs, steering dampers, and soft handgrips to reduce blisters. Some riders had a motocross set up with a thin seat, while others went for a more enduro set up with a thicker foam seat. And some didn’t give a rats either way about anything.

The energy and tension on the start line was electric. Many competitors would not make it back to Alice Springs, and they knew it. The ones that did were elated. There were many broken bones, broken bikes, busted and bruised faces and ribs. Tears flowed as they pulled into Parc Ferme, pulling off their helmets to hug their family, revealing dirt-crusted nostrils, missing helmet peaks and crusty, dry lips and teeth with baked-on bull dust. I spoke to a father-son duo who both returned with broken ribs. They thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Meanwhile, Aimee Butler went down with less than a kilometer to go. She forced herself back on the bike, appearing heavily concussed and made it across the finish line with what looked like a broken hand to collapse into the arms of her family. What a warrior.

At midnight on Day 1, I had a mate tear down to the Finke end of the race to get on the tools to help repair A4DE E1 winner Korey McMahon’s 450 GASGAS and others who'd taken bike-breaking tumbles along the way. Korey raced back to Alice and placed P4 overall with no seat or rear guard. At least two riders crossed the line with no rear tyre, just running on the rim.

Hometown hero David Walsh took out the King of the Desert title with a time of 3:35:48, the only man to have won 4 consecutive titles since Randall Gregory in the early 90's. From Victoria in second, also on a KTM 500 EXC-F, was AORC regular Callum Norton, one of the nicest guys in off-road. IT was his fifth time at Finke and he arrived only two minutes behind Walshy, a solid effort after an early stack. In third position was long time Finke competitor and podium-getter Ivan Long on a Husqvarna FE 501.

The Queen of the Desert title went to local legend Taylah Maurice, who put in an outstanding effort on her Honda CRF250RX. In P2 was Kathryn Scoble, a regular in the sidecar scene as racer and mechanic, followed by seven-time Finke competitor Alexandra Long in P3 – both on Honda CFR250R’s. Honda has such a rich history at Finke and it's great to see them back at the top.

What a weekend. I'll be back for more.