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Thread: 2019 Finke Desert Race

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    Default 2019 Finke Desert Race

    Wow, a year has gone already.




    With no Toby Price in the bikes this year, i put the Outright Bike winners down to David Walsh or Callum Norton.
    Dave has raced Finke 12 times and is proper fast
    Callum is a young kid that we all taught to ride, and now leaves us all for dead.
    He surprised them all last year in his first Finke and KTM have grabbed him as the next Toby Price.

    Both lads have been pre racing the full race distance in 1 day with 1 hour for lunch at Finke, then riding back
    That is 230km down, 1 hour for lunch and 230km back going full noise

    One race engine lasted 20min before it melted, the second lasted 1 hour before it melted.
    They have now backed the tune down and put in a thicker head gasket to drop compression.

    I'd also love to see locals Shannon and Ian Rentsch take out the Car section again
    But Red Bull have thrown so much money at this, they will be hard to beat and with Toby Price at the wheel, it would have to be a mechanical DNF again to stop them.


    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    yep, another year gone again, it's the quickening.
    IOM starts next week too.
    Cheers, Tiny
    "You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
    The information is out there; you just have to let it in."

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    Oh crap, and how many years have i been saying i'll go to that one year...
    Hmmmmmm
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    lsemmens (23-05-19)

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    it's on my bucket list....

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    lsemmens (23-05-19)

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    Ditto! Somehow, I suspect that I'll have to do it in a Gopher!
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    I've been to four of them so far, but all I've really seen is the pre race stuff (prologue and scrutineering etc), the start of the buggies, and the end of the class our guys are in. Because we drive the support vehicle, we have to get going before our blokes take off, so that we can be at the other end by the time they get there. Usually too knackered to make a night of the presentation night too.

    But it's all about the atmosphere, and the overnight at Finke is always entertaining. Would be good to just go as a spectator and camp out on the track one year though.

    The wife and I usually make a trip of the return journey and spend about 4 weeks getting home. We usually camp out in the scrub somewhere, where we can, and spend the other nights in caravan parks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bob_m_54 View Post

    But it's all about the atmosphere, and the overnight at Finke is always entertaining. Would be good to just go as a spectator and camp out on the track one year though.

    The wife and I usually make a trip of the return journey and spend about 4 weeks getting home. We usually camp out in the scrub somewhere, where we can, and spend the other nights in caravan parks.
    Good on you Bob, it is great to be involved with a team
    Care to mentioned the entrant, always good to have someone else to keep an eye on.

    I've never done the over night camp at Finke but heard its a good laugh.
    I stayed in Alice last year and drove to the 40km mark both days, it is a lot of waiting for a 15 second pass... Then back to Start/Finish area.

    It is crazy what the top teams are spending, KTM have 38 staff not including the riders this year
    They have fuel every 80km and Spare wheels every 40km with Radio contact the entire length of the track via random spotters to call ahead if they notice something so the team can be ready in advance.

    Hate to see what Red Bull are doing for TP in eh cars!

    The only way a privater can win these days is luck.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    Just finishing and getting your railway spike is a pretty big deal. It wasn't till his third attempt that my mate won his first spike. Can't remember his placing, but it was way down the list LOL. And yes, for a private competitor trying to compete on a shoestring budget, it still takes a lot of money.

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    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    bob_m_54 (09-06-19)

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    Default Finke Prologue

    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    Live Stream again today
    Plus live GPS Tracking

    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    The bloke I used to go up there to support with his bike, is navigator in a Pro Buggy with his mate this year again. He did OK in Prologue, but was DNF on the first leg yesterday. His mate's old man also raced (Trophy Truck), and came in 20th overall in cars with a time of 2hrs 17mins for day one, and 2hrs 23mins today, so did pretty well sitting at 15th at the moment.

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    Yeah, its sure been unfortunate for Shannon and Toby
    But that is Desert Racing....

    Mates son, Cal Norton started 13th yesterday and came in 4th (Shit Prologue)
    Hopefully he can get on the Podium today, fingers crossed.
    Bikes start at 12:15 EST

    Local Warrnambool lad Shannon being a very humble 6th place getter after running 2nd yesterday until the final 15minutes when they got a flat tyre
    Had that not happened, he would have taken off 2nd behind Toby today (whom DNF'd) and possibly won.





    Cal Norton (x98) as he arrived in Finke yesterday



    Fingers crossed for no mechanical failures
    Last edited by ol' boy; 10-06-19 at 12:16 PM.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    Toby Price not at a winning pace after an issue shortly into Day 2
    They got it going and were driving home at 40kph (or being towed, was hard to tell)



    EDIT: Just got word, Toby Price blew his diff up this morning!

    Broke the track record yesty and was breaking the record again to day until the diff let go
    Last edited by ol' boy; 10-06-19 at 01:04 PM.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    Quote Originally Posted by bob_m_54 View Post
    and came in 20th overall in cars with a time of 2hrs 17mins for day one, and 2hrs 23mins today, so did pretty well sitting at 15th at the moment.
    That is a killer effort, well done
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    diff issue is disappointing. Goes to show he will prob do it next year.

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    Quote Originally Posted by LeroyPatrol View Post
    diff issue is disappointing. Goes to show he will prob do it next year.
    He probably would have done it last year (power steering DNF)
    This year, third drive they call it, "Differential" chewed to bits, DNF

    Amazing considering they would have spent close to $1 Million on this race (maybe more)

    2 Complete Races cars
    Team of 32 people
    Helicopter following him with spare parts
    Mechanics at fuel stops and multiple spotters and comms people
    Months of practice runs, testing and testing and more testing

    He broke the record down to Finke on Sunday
    And was breaking the record to Alice Springs when the thing shit the pin....
    Maybe that says something in its self.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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