With just a week remaining until the bikes, quads, trucks and buggies line up on the grid to light up the desert over 470km of relentless terrain in the Finke Desert Race, Team Toyo is applying the final fixes to its vehicles in preparation.
The Finke Desert Race runs over the long weekend from 6 to 9 June. This year’s race will see over 600 competitors vie for the title ‘King of the Desert’ and for victory, both all out and in their respective classes.
We caught up with the team to find out how their preparations are going.
“Finke is the roughest road in Australia and it gets worse every year. It’s one of the best races in the country but it’s definitely one of the worst roads,” says Bruce Garland, who is this year hoping for some rain to settle the dust and tame the track for his Isuzu MU-X.
The Finke veteran is no stranger to the rigours of the rutted track, taking third place in the Extreme 4WD class in 2013. Garland is this year challenging the Production 4WD class in an Isuzu MU-X, with long time co-driver Harry Suzuki.
With a view to testing for an entry to the Dakar Rally in 2015, and to ensure that the Isuzu’s wheels are shod in the right rubber on the day, the team will be taking several Toyo tyre types to Alice Springs to test prior to the event.
Dual run
Following an ugly roll-over at the Goondiwindi 400 in 2012, then a fifth overall and first in the Extreme 2WD class at the Finke in 2013, Billy Geddes was inspired to tackle the 2014 race in what is a first for the desert dash; by running it twice.
Initially, Geddes and co-driver Jamie Ward will attack the brutal 235km stretch in their two-tonne, 6.0-litre Trophy Truck, cross the finish line, climb into a helicopter and fly back to Alice Springs, then re-do the race on his KTM 450 EXC bike.
Geddes’ trophy truck has made the step up to the larger, race bred 39” Toyo Open Country M/T-R.
“It’s the first time we are running them. We’ve stepped up from the 37” we used last year and we’re excited about it. More contact, better traction and a tougher tyre,” says Geddes.
With a 260-litre fuel tank over the rear wheels filled to the brim when the truck leaves Alice Springs, Geddes cites dynamic driving as the key to managing the variable load.
“Fuel burn is an issue, especially with such a heavy car. We are using around a litre a kilometre. We test with the tank three-quarters full and one-quarter full, and when the cars are light than can be a bit naughty. You can still be fast, there are just some things you don’t ask the car to do.”
Geddes is torn on the track conditions. In the truck, he prefers the rough stuff, with any grading on the track making life simpler for his buggy competitors, who are challenged by the more severe undulations. The two wheeled leg of his unique race however, benefits from the opposite. The KTM laps up a graded, smoother track, with road surface a more significant concern for those on bikes.
Reclaiming the throne
Seeking to reclaim his 2012 'King of the Desert' title in his 2007 Geiser Brothers Trophy Truck, Brad Gallard is joined for the Finke by co-driver Scott Modistach.
The bigger 39” Open Country M/T-R tyres will also be keeping Gallard’s big truck in touch with the track. The increased diameter and contact patch of the new set-up is more adept at keeping the car planted, giving the team greater confidence while also helping the truck blast through even the most serious bumps.
Gallard emphasises the importance the prologue and a good race position, with the clean air a huge advantage to a field choked and blinded by the all-consuming red dust that rooster-tails behind competitors.
“There is nothing harder than racing blind, especially in an event with a track as unpredictable as the Finke,” says Gallard.
Buggy Bros
Joining the BG’s this year is the Peter Kittle Motor Sport Racing team, with Andrew and Matthew Kittle strapping into their respective race buggys, replete with Team Toyo livery.
Stirring up the desert in style will be the pair of purpose-built, high speed buggies prepared by Peter Kittle Motor Sport.
The Kittle buggies have stuck with a 35” Open Country M/T-R, with the larger 39” tyre oversized for the buggies’ purposes. A rough two hours for even the most rugged desert machine, each buggy also bears the weight of a spare wheel and a 12V power jacking system with electric rattle gun, should a tyre come to grief.
Andrew is joined by Andrew Kerr and Matthew by Cameron Kahl in the navigator seats, with the navigator playing a critical role in a race that doesn’t always offer clarity of vision. Kittle Motor Sport team manager Rob Richardson also emphasises the importance of qualifying for a strong grid position during the timed prologue on Saturday.
“Grid position is absolutely a priority: the bloke up the front has the best shot, everything is based on your prologue,” he explains.
