The 2018 Tatts Finke Desert Race will see 135 car crews take on the famous red dust and ‘whoops’ in the iconic out-and-back race from Alice Springs to Finke on 8-11 June.
Competing in round two of the BFGoodrich CAMS Australian Off Road Championship (AORC), the cars will join 632 bike riders, all hoping to conquer the 452 kilometres of racing over two days.
Last year’s Tatts Finke Desert race winners SR Racing’s Shannon and Ian Rentsch will be front and centre to defend their ‘King of the Desert’ title.
Fresh off a win at the St George 399, the eight-time Australian Champion will be out to grab the AORC lead from Loveday 4×4 Park’s Toby Whateley, with just two points in it.
Whateley, who made history at round one of the BFGoodrich CAMS AORC by becoming the first to take an outright section win in a SXS Turbo, will be part of a huge SXS Turbo field – 44 Polaris’ and Can-Ams will take on the Finke Desert, with another 18 of the 1200cc SXS Sports making the journey.
The car field is littered with a who’s who of Australian off road with Hayden Bentley, Greg Gartner, David Fellows and Mark Burrows just to name a few.
2016 Australian Off Road Champion Jack Rhodes will be hoping to improve on last year’s podium third place finish as will last year’s runner-up Beau Robinson, again in the Geiser Bros Trophy Truck.
Five-time bike ‘King of the Desert’ Toby Price will attempt the ‘Iron Man’ Finke Double at the 2018 Tatts Finke Desert Race aiming to make history by winning both car and motorcycle categories.
The Prolite class will be one to watch following a tight contest at the St George 399.
2017 Australian Off Road Champion Matt Martin will be out to grab points after a horror start to his title defence retiring in section one at St George.
The 2017 Prolite Class Champion, Chris Browning took out last round, followed closely by Alan Dixon and Ally Howells – Tait Svenson was on the money early only to experience mechanical issues late in the final section.
The Tatts Finke Desert Race will take on the first 226 kilometre leg from Alice Spring to Finke on the Sunday morning, with leg two, returning to Alice Springs, kicking off on Monday morning.
