Gartner/Jennings in the #410 Ford 150 completed the gruelling two day event in a total time of 3 hours 51minutes and 45 seconds to take the victory from the second placed crew Andrew Kittle/Matthew Kittle in the #14 Jimco Toyota buggy ( 3 hrs. 58 min. 25 secs).
In third place at the Alice Springs finish was the local crew of Greg Hicks/Shane Braitling in the #123 Southern Cross Toyota who completed the total race distance of 452 kilometres in a time of 3 hrs 59 mins 35 seconds.
The winning time for this year’s race set by Gartner/Jennings of 3 hrs 51 mins 55secs compares with last year’s (2010) race winning time of David Fellows/Mark Bergamin of 3 hours 40 mins 43 seconds and was completed in a South Australian built car.
In this year’s event Fellows/Bergamin in the #1 Jimco Toyota broke a drive shaft on Day 1 of the event yesterday putting them out of serious contention although that did not prevent them from achieving an outstanding run home today. They were clearly the fastest machine on the course taking 1 hour 49 minutes 15 seconds for the 226 kilometres as compared to the time today for the winning crew of 1hr 54 mins 1 sec.
Not unusually this year’s Finke was a race of attrition with Fellows/Bergamin not being alone as one of the more fancied crews to strike trouble.
Yesterday’s leader into Finke, the #13 Jimco buggy of Travis Robinson/ Paul Currie were out early in the run home today with a reported broken gearbox between Mt Squires and Bundooma.
The crew second into Finke yesterday (and second on the podium last year) the SA crew of Brad Gallard/Scott Modistach in the #454 Monster Chev Trophy Truck were also a casualty very early in the run today. No details were available.
Geoff Rowe/Liz Rowe #403 Geiser Bros Trophy Truck who were third into Finke were also another casualty with other crews reporting that their machine had a ‘wheel off’ between Deep Well and the finish.
The winning pair (Gartner and Jennings) were extremely generous at the podium presentation today stating that a lot of good crews had failed to finish but suggested that their victory as the first truck to win Finke was good for the sport, and ‘the sport had lifted with the field of both buggies and trucks’.
The team also said that they had a new truck coming to further increase their competitiveness.
For the second placed team of Andrew and Matthew Kittle it was the first time the brothers had teamed together at Finke.
Andrew Kittle said that the Kittle Toyota outfit also had a new buggy ‘on the way’ but at this stage it was not confirmed as to who would be the driver. Long standing Kittle team driver and multiple Finke Desert Race winner David Fellows is reported as considering retirement from the sport.
Andrew Kittle won the Finke Desert Race as a navigator with David Fellows in 2008 and 2009.
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