The buggies, bikes and trucks are faster. The drivers are hungrier. The track is… well, dustier, if such a thing is possible.
Yes, it’s that glorious time of year when more than 400 quad and bike riders and 100-odd truck and buggy slingers rudely interrupt the pristine silence of the Simpson Desert, holding their throttles wide open over the spine-rearranging goat track that threads its way from Alice Springs to Finke.
So, here’s who we reckon will be unstoppable at this year’s race. And while you might notice that we’ve only picked out our drivers, it just so happens that we actually think they’ll come out on top. Perhaps it’s all the winning that gave us that idea, or perhaps it’s because we promised our support at the Toyo Driver’s barbecue after we ruined the sausages. Either way, here’s our pick…
 |
Brad Gallard is shooting for back-to-back Finke victories in his Geiser Brothers trophy truck. If he’s successful it will be the first time a trophy truck driver has won consecutive outright Finke titles. He’s been bashing his truck against the Finke sands for the past seven years, and it’s said he doesn’t understand the concept of ‘slow’.
|
 |
Bruce Garland, on the other hand, is said not to understand the concept of ‘never again’. After using his spine as a shock absorber over the last 200km of his class win at Finke in 2012, he made what some would call a very sensible decision never to race the rutted track again. But just when he thought he was out, Finke pulled him back in…
|
 |
Billy Geddes has said he’ll be the sensible one this year, as he’s looking to maintain his Australian Off Road Championship lead. Yes, sensible. The one word you’d use to describe the pilot of a 2.5-tonne, six-litre V8 truck, flying through the air at half the speed of sound. Still, unique grasp of ‘sensible’ aside, he’s brilliantly quick. |
 |
Greg Gartner is a farmer from Penola, South Australia, but to most he’s known as the first man to ever take a Trophy Truck to outright victory in the Finke Desert Race, a feat he accomplished in 2011. Displaying the kind of toughness you’d expect from a farmer, Greg smashed his finger in prologue thanks to a broken power steering system before going on to win the 450km, two-day event with his right hand swollen and near useless and his left hand guiding a broken power steering unit. Yep, tough enough for us. |
 |
Gerald Reid is the quiet achiever, at least compared with this raucous bunch. In a field now dominated by tough-as-nails Trophy Trucks, he piloted his comparably fragile and delicate Pro Buggy to outright third last year. And let’s not forget that the prologue track favours lighter, more nimble buggies. So if Gerald gets a good prologue and a good start, we could see the return of the buggies to the podium. |
 |
Last year Jack Rhodes was “a virtual unknown” according to mainstream media. Then, in only his second year in the sport, he blitzed the prologue course at a speed that would confuse Speedy Gonzales, taking just four minutes and 52 seconds to tackle the eight kilometres of twisty track – a full three seconds faster than his nearest rival. Sure, he didn’t finish the 2012 race after his promising start, but if everything holds together for him this time around, the front-runners will have a new sparring partner. |
So there are the guys we think will be standing on the podium come Monday morning, but who do you think will take out the 2013 Finke Desert Race?
