The Year That Was: Wet and wild Rainbow Desert Enduro

For many years, the iconic Tatts Finke Desert Race has been widely regarded as one of the hardest off road events not just in Australia, but also the world.

However after its first appearance as the final round of the BFGoodrich CAMS Australian Off Road Championship in 2017, the Hindmarsh Shire Rainbow Desert Enduro has certainly staked its claim to be one of the hardest rounds yet.

For the second year in a row, heavy rain coupled with the difficult endurance format created gruelling conditions for competitors as part of a challenging event.

With many competitors unable to complete the 525km event due to the conditions, eventual 2018 champion Shannon Rentsch finished the event with no real problems, while Mark Burrows secured outright third thanks to a one-stop strategy.

Finishing in between the pair in second and first in the Extreme 2WD class was Beau Robinson, the eventual runner-up surprised by the event’s difficulty.

“Towards the end there it actually became really rough, probably one of the roughest places we have been to,” Robinson said.

“Finke’s rough but at least it is consistent and flowing where as this, it’s hard to get on top of. Even for a truck it was pretty rough so I was surprised by that towards the end there.”

The Rainbow Desert Enduro will be back next year acting as the third and final round for the 2019 BFGoodrich CAMS Australian Off Road Championship on 9-11 August.

 

This memorable moment is part of a special BFGoodrich CAMS Australian Off Road Championship series recapping an entertaining 2018 season.