Finke Bike and Quad Entries Full!
As of Monday 6 February 2012, bike and quad entries for this year’s Tatts Finke Desert Race are full. 550 entries exactly have been received, with anyone entering now going onto the official waitlist. As competitors withdraw from the race, usually due to injury, the next entrant on the waiting list gets a spot in the race. The field will officially close on Friday 1 June 2012. To enter onto and go onto the waitlist, log follow the links to ‘Bike and Quad Online Entry’.
The committee are very happy with how entries have progressed this year. They were online for the second year, with credit card the only form of payment. This has made the process a lot easier behind the scenes and the confirmation process much quicker.
The podium finishers from 2011 are all entered with Ben Grabham, Jarrod Bewely and Ryan Branford all confirmed competitors. Four time winner and reigning bike King of the Desert, Ben Grabham is going for win number five. The only other competitor to win as many was Randall Gregory, who won them consecutively from 1991 to 1995.
“I don’t think about the record side of things when I race Finke, if I did that I probably wouldn’t do that well”, said Grabham. He’s returning as part of the HSE Motorex KTM Offroad Team and says it’s the race that brings him back. “I come back for the race and everything around it. I don’t just think, I want to win so I’ll go back – I keep coming back because it’s such a great event.”
2011 Yamaha Australian Off Road Champion, Chris Hollis will be trying his luck in his first ever Finke as another part of the HSE Motorex KTM Offroad Team. “Finke’s a race I’ve definitely wanted to have a go at. As I’m now with the KTM team, I have the opportunity to compete on a good bike with a good team.”
Hollis isn’t too sure how he’ll go with speed being his biggest hurdle, “the biggest thing for me is seeing how I go with the speed side of things. I haven’t really raced events with speed like Finke before, so I’m excited to race something different. I look forward to checking out what it’s all about.”
Chad McKay won the quad class in 2011 and is also confirmed to try his luck for back to back victories in 2012.
Car and buggy entries are expected to open by the end of February.
