Toby Price and David Walsh retain King of the Desert crowns at 2023 Finke
The reigning King of the Desert has further cemented his Finke legend status after winning his third consecutive car title, while a local hero made it four in a row in the bike category.
Alice Springs
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Finke legend Toby Price has done it again winning his third straight King of the Desert car title in dominant fashion.
The Red Bull racer and navigator Jason Duncan recorded an overall race time of three hours 21 minutes 46 seconds to get the Finke clean sweep of wins across Prologue, race day 1 and race day 2.
Price’s journey was only 0.4 seconds slower than the time he set in 2022 and marks his ninth overall King of the Desert crown.
He previously managed six wins in the bike category before moving over to the cars, where he has now managed three titles.
“To get my first win was a dream come true, and then to say I have nine now is wild,” he said.
“We had a really good run, the truck did an amazing job and my crew did an amazing job, without them I wouldn’t be up here.”
Price’s lead over the field was just over six minutes, with Australian off-road racing legend Greg Gartner finishing second after making up two spots on the return journey.
Travis Robinson completed the podium extending his lead in the Australian off-road championship, while Brent Martin was just 0.11 seconds behind in fourth.
Beau Robinson recovered from his day 1 setback to round out the top five beating out Shannon Rentsch who unexpectedly dropped two positions.
Meanwhile, the bike category also went to a previous winner with local legend David Walsh sealing his fourth straight King of the Desert Crown.
Walsh clocked an impressive overall time of three hours 35 minutes and 48 seconds beating second-placed Callum Norton by almost two minutes.
The Alice Springs local also recorded the first ever attempt at the Iron Man Double, competing in the car category earlier in the day where he unfortunately recorded a DNF.
But the KTM rider was in complete control in the bikes across the entire 452km round trip.
“It feels pretty cool to be on top of the podium,” Walsh said.
“I’m just a very lucky man. I’ve got a very good team behind me and a very supportive family so I’m very lucky.”
Norton, who collided with Prologue winner Jacob Smith on day 1 held his position to finish second, while Queenslander Ivan Long rounded out the podium after finishing just over a minute behind.
Korey McMahon and Liam Walsh finished strong in fourth and fifth respectively, while Smith kept himself in the top ten to finish the Desert Race sixth.
Reigning Finke champ posts imposing time as comp crashes
Reigning King of the Desert Toby Price is within touching distance of his third-consecutive car title after a dominant opening day of the Finke Desert Race.
Price completed the 226km leg within 1 hour 38mins 35 secs, just two minutes short of breaking his own record set last year.
He finished almost four minutes clear of Travis Robinson, who started the day in third, while Shannon Rentsh climbed eight spots to finish third.
Australian Off-Road Championship star Beau Robinson started the day in second, but a crash 77km into the race set him back to ninth by day’s end.
“The moisture has been good for the race, but the moisture is a lot harder on the equipment,” Price said.
“We’re just trying to be smooth, easy and trying to get through and have a good run, and we’ve done that.
“It feels like at the moment we’re doing good on time.
“It’s hard to be from the front, you just don’t know what’s going on behind you, you don’t know if you’re going fast enough or too slow, it’s a bit of a guessing game.”
Greg Gartner climbed into the top five after fifth placed started Aaron James rolled on his journey to record a DNF.
The car category resumes for Day 2 from 7.15am with the first car expected to arrive about 9.05am.
Meanwhile, local legend and three-time bike champion David Walsh soared through the field to take the top spot in the bike race at the end of Day 1.
Walsh started from fourth but blitzed through to finish at Aputula with a time of 1 hour 46mins 25 secs.
The Alice Springs local gapped the field by more than two minutes with an average speed of 127km/h.
“Pretty stoked with my ride,” Walsh said.
“Jacob Smith and I had a little battle there before the fuels and then I had a bit of clean air and sort of settled in and hit the lines that I knew and made sure not to do anything too stupid.”
Walsh had already made the trip to Aputula earlier in the day as the navigator for Brent Smoothy who finished 6th in the cars category earlier in the day.
Callum Norton finished second in the bikes after recovering from a collision with Prologue winner Jacob Smith, while Smith trailed to finish fifth.
“Had a crash at the start and unfortunately I just misjudged the line with Jacob and unfortunately we came together,” Norton said.
Ivan Long completed the top three, while Liam Walsh was in fourth with a clear line to sharing the podium with his cousin.
Defending King of the Desert sets tone on Finke Prologue Day
Defending Car King of the Desert Toby Price has started Finke 2023 in perfect fashion posting the fastest time on Prologue Day.
The fan-favourite Red Bull beat his 2022 time by more than six seconds after clocking a time of 4mins 36 seconds around the 8.3km track.
The winning time earns Price top spot in the starting order on Race Day 1 and secures the $2000 Outright Prologue winner prize.
“I thought it was going to be slippier than it was,” Price said.
“At the third turn we were on two wheels, so it worked out pretty quick – there was some grip there.
“We’ve just got to get through Day 1 and back on Day 2, but we’re in a good position so it’s happy days.”
Price took pole position by just 2.25 seconds beating Australian Off-Road Championship star Beau Robinson.
Travis Robinson completed the Prologue podium behind his brother and will start Saturday’s 226km journey to Aputula (Finke) from third.
Finke’s 2022 silver medallist Aaron James will start from fifth, while Joshua Howells put in a big effort to take fourth.
James Cook was the winner of the Outright SXS Prologue and will start from 19th position while taking home a $1000 cash prize.
And father-son duo Brad and Byam Lovell will start the first leg of the journey from 79th after theory Ford Ranger Raptor was the leading car in the Production 4WD class.
The 2023 King of the Desert will be crowned when the field completes its journey back to Alice Springs on Monday.
Meanwhile, Jacob Smith is one step closer to claiming his first crown in the bike category after setting the quickest time in the bike category.
The Finke veteran gapped the field by more than five seconds around the 8.3km Prologue track with a time of 4mins 50secs.
Three-time reigning champion and home town hero David Walsh will start Day 1 from fourth as he looks to gain time on his major rivals.
Long-time volunteer named 2023 Finke Hero
A long-time volunteer who came into the role almost by accident was honoured as the 2023 Finke Hero on the eve of the big Desert Race.
Ray Henry, known as Scruffy, started camping at what is now known as Henry Hill in 1979 where he became a well-known feature over the years.
Due to the location of the hill he slowly became an unofficial volunteer as he helped in relaying radio messages, tracking down competitors and being a point of reference for officials.
After more than 20 years of helping scrutineering efforts he officially became the chief at the Rodinga checkpoint in 2018, a role he continues to maintain.
Tatts Finke Desert Race President Antony Yoffa praised Mr Henry for his long term efforts.
“I’ve been around for a long time, but not as long as tonight’s Finke Hero,” Yoffa said.
“(Scruffy) does a power of work, he’s another one that epitomises what a Finke Hero is.”
Meanwhile, Mr Henry extremely honoured to be recognised, though caught by surprise while helping out at the annual scrutineering event.
“I was still scrutineering cars (when I found out I won),” he said.
“This is why we do it. Especially during years like this. I’d like to thank all the crew that do help me down at Rodinga.”
He becomes the 22nd winner of the award which was first introduced in 2005.
Alice Springs’ Finke champion gunning for four straight
Hometown hero David Walsh is gunning to make it four wins in a row and cement his place as one of the all-time greats of the Finke Desert Race.
Walsh first won in 2019 and backed up the victory in 2021 when the 2020 race was cancelled due to the Covid outbreak.
In 2022 Walsh clocked a record-breaking time finishing three minutes ahead of major rivals Jacob Smith and Jack Simpson on Day 1.
The KTM rider backed up on Day 2 to finish with an overall time of 3h35m45s beating the previous record of Toby Price, the reigning King of the Desert in the car race.
“Winning last year was quite incredible, it was dream come true for me,” Walsh said.
“I was quite lucky to be at the pointy end and being able to finish off as I did and make it three titles.”
He’s now geared up and ready to take on the desert once again and with some recent wet weather in the Red Centre he knows it will be different.
Smith is expected to pose a challenge again while Walsh’s cousin Liam Walsh is also racing well in 2023.
And while Walsh beat the previous record by 11 minutes in 2022, he stayed coy on the possibility of doing it again.
“Preparations have been going really good, bikes are going well, the team is going well so we’re all set and ready to go,” he said.
“There’s many things that have to fall in your favour to win at Finke with the desert being half the battle.
“But it’s about making sure everything falls into place and you’ve done all the hard work before you get out there.
“This year will be a bit different because of recent rain, but the field will be strong with some guys returning from last year while my cousin is going strong.
“I’m not out here to break any records, I’m just focused on what I need to do to try and win the event, and if records come that’s awesome.”
As an Alice Springs local Walsh knows better than most what the race means for the region.
And while tourism is down on previous years Walsh has already seen plenty of people come to town for the all-important race.
“It means everything for this town, it’s just like Christmas for us here,” Walsh said.
“It’s important the event continues and people keep coming and checking it out.
“All my mates have been packing their camping gear and getting down for the week and everyone getting pretty excited to get out on the track.”
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