Английская Википедия:Finke Desert Race

Содержание

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

The Finke Desert Race is an off-road, multi-terrain two-day race for motorbikes, cars, buggies and quad bikes through desert country from Alice Springs to the small and remote community of Aputula (called Finke until the 1980s) in Australia's Northern Territory. The race is usually held each year on the King's Birthday long weekend in June. "Finke", as it is commonly known, is one of the biggest annual sporting events in the Northern Territory.

Track

Encompassing about 229km each way, the Finke Desert Race travels through many properties on its way to end up crossing the Finke River just north of Aputula. The track is divided into five sections:

• Start/Finish Line to Deep Well (61 km)
• Deep Well to Rodinga (31 km)
• Rodinga to Bundooma (43 km)
• Bundooma to Mount Squires (45 km)
• Mount Squires to Finke (49 km)

History

The race started in 1976 as a "there and back" challenge for a group of local motorbike riders to race from Alice Springs Inland Dragway to the Finke River and return. After the success of this initial ride, the Finke Desert Race has been held annually on the King's Birthday long weekend ever since. The race is run along sections of the Central Australia Railway along a winding corrugated track, which goes through the outback terrain of red dirt, sand, spinifex, mulga and desert oaks. Even though the railway line was realigned and rebuilt in the early 1980s, with the old tracks being pulled up, the race continues along its original course.

While originally the Finke was only a bike race, its increasing popularity saw the introduction of cars and off-road buggies in 1988. A rivalry developed between the two and four wheelers, as the buggies were keen to claim the "King of the Desert" title. For eleven consecutive years the bikes were too quick for the cars despite the gap constantly narrowing. Finally in 1999, a buggy returned home first to claim the honour, with the bikes winning back the title in 2000 and 2001. From 2002 until 2004 the buggies held onto the "King of the Desert" title. In 2005 the title was changed to see two "Kings of the Desert", one for the cars and one for bikes, each picking up $10,000 for their effort. The last bike to beat the cars time was Michael Vroom in 2001 on his Honda CR500.Шаблон:Citation needed

COVID-19 impact

The 2020 race was cancelled for the first time in the event's history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This cost the economy of Alice Springs about $8 million. In 2021 about 200 Victorian competitors, plus race officials, were unable to attend when the Northern Territory classed all of Victoria as a hot spot after the state entered its fourth lockdown.

2021 fatal crash

During the 2021 race, a vehicle struck spectators just 35 kilometres short of the finish line. One person was killed and two others, including the driver, were hospitalised. The remainder of the event was subsequently cancelled, meaning the bike race was not completed and no winner announced that category. The buggy category had already been won earlier that morning. The winning racer, Toby Price, had previously won in the bike category six times, and therefore became the first person to have won in both the bike and buggy categories.

List of winners

Year	Name	Vehicle	State
1976	Geoff Curtis	Yamaha 250	Northern Territory
1977	Phil Stoker	Suzuki 370	Northern Territory
1978	Geoff Curtis	Yamaha XT500	Northern Territory
1979	Peter Stayt	Yamaha XT500	Northern Territory
1980	Geoff Curtis	Yamaha 400	Northern Territory

• 1976 BIKES

Geoff Curtis, Yamaha 250, NT

• 1977 BIKES

Phil Stoker, Suzuki 370, NT

• 1978 BIKES

Geoff Curtis, Yamaha XT500, NT

• 1979 BIKES

Peter Stayt, Yamaha XT500, NT

• 1980 BIKES

Geoff Curtis, Yamaha 400, NT

• 1981 BIKES

Phil Lovett, KTM 390, NSW

• 1982 BIKES

Phil Lovett, KTM 495, NSW

• 1983 BIKES

Stephen Gall, Yamaha 490, NSW

• 1984 BIKES

Peter Stayt, Yamaha 490, NT

• 1985 BIKES

Phil Lovett, KTM 495, NSW time 03:41:30

• 1986 BIKES

Stephen Gall, Yamaha XT500, NSW

• 1987 BIKES

David Armstrong, Kawasaki 500, QLD

• 1988

BIKES – Alan Roe, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – John Fidler/Peter Lewis, Corvette, NT

• 1989

BIKES – Mark Winter, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Gary Nicolle/Jo Reed, Buggy, NT

• 1990

BIKES – Mark Winter, KTM 540, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Gary Nicolle/Neil Shegog, Buggy, NT

• 1991

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Keith Poole/Peter Walker, Buggy, SA

• 1992
• 1992

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Greg Schlein/David Fellows, Buggy, NT

• 1993

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Steven Graydon/Tony Graydon, Buggy, WA

• 1994

BIKES - Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Keith Poole/Peter Walker, Buggy, SA

• 1995

BIKES – Randall Gregory, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Bob Mowbray/Janette Mowbray, Buggy, NSW

• 1996

BIKES – Dan Ashcraft, Honda 500, USA Шаблон:BreakCARS – Keith Poole/Peter Walker, Scorpion VW Buggy, Adelaide SA

• 1997

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Paul Simpson, Jimco Buggy, VIC

• 1998

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Mark Burrows/ Michael Shannon, Cougar Buggy, VIC

• 1999

BIKES – Rick Hall, Honda 500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Mark Burrows / Michael Shannon, Cougar Buggie, VIC

• 2000

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda CR500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Mark Burrows / Michael Shannon, 2200cc Turbo Buggy, VIC

• 2001

BIKES – Michael Vroom, Honda CR500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – David Fellows / Tony Pinto, Southern Cross 2500cc Buggy, NT

• 2002

BIKES – Rick Hall, Honda CR500, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Mark Burrows / Michael Shannon, MBR Jimco 2000cc Buggy, VIC

• 2003

BIKES – Darren Griffiths, KTM 540, WA Шаблон:BreakCARS – Mark Burrows/Colin Hodge, MBR Jimco 2200cc Turbo, VIC

• 2004

BIKES – Stephen Greenfield, Honda CRF 450, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – David Fellows/Tony Pinto, Jimco Buggy 2200cc, NT

• 2005

BIKES – Jason Hill, Honda CRF 450, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Shannon Rentsch/Ian Rentsch, Chenowth Buggy 2000cc, VIC

• 2006

BIKES – Ryan Branford, Honda CRF 450, NT Шаблон:BreakCARS – Shannon Rentsch/Ian Rentsch, Chenowth Buggy 2000cc, Vic

• 2007

BIKES – Ben Grabham, Honda CRF450R, NSW Шаблон:BreakCARS – Hayden Bentley/Ben Chivell, Jimco Buggy, SA

• 2008

BIKES – Ben Grabham, Honda CRF450R , NSW time 4:04:43.02 Шаблон:BreakCARS – David Fellows/Andrew Kittle/Jason Adami, Jimco 2000 Series Buggy, SA

• 2009

BIKES – Ben Grabham, KTM 505 XC-F, NSW time 4:01:26.60 Шаблон:BreakCARS – David Fellows/Andrew Kittle, Jimco 2000 Series Buggy, SA

• 2010

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 450 SX-F , NSW time 4:03:25.62 Шаблон:BreakCARS – David Fellows/Mark Bergamin, Jimco 2000 Series Buggy, SA

• 2011

BIKES - Ben Grabham, KTM 450 SX-F , NSW time 3:58:59.60 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Greg Gartner/Jamie Jennings, Ford F150, SA

• 2012

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 450SXF, NSW time 3:57:03 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Brad Gallard/Rick Geiser/Scott Modistach, Trophy Truck, SA

• 2013

BIKES – Todd Smith, Honda CRF450R, NSW time 04:02:08 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Hayden Bentley, Racer Buggy, SA

• 2014

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC, NSW time 03:56:29 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Shannon Rentsch/Ian Rentsch, Jimco Buggy, VIC

• 2015

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC, NSW time 03:52:54 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Shannon Rentsch/Ian Rentsch, Jimco Buggy, VIC

• 2016

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC, NSW time 03:46:55 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Glenn Owen/Mathew Ryan, Jimco Buggy, VIC

• 2017

BIKES – Daymon Stokie, YAMAHA WR500F, NT time 04:11:12 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Shannon Rentsch/Ian Rentsch, Jimco Buggy, VIC

• 2018

BIKES – Toby Price, KTM 500EXC-F, NSW time 03:55:25.1 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Shannon Rentsch/Ian Rentsch, , VIC time 03:36:37.3

• 2019

BIKES – David Walsh, KTM 500EXC, NT time 03:56:01 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Jack Rhodes/David Pullino, Jimco Aussie Special Nissan 3500cc, SA

• 2020

Not run due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

• 2021

BIKES – David Walsh, KTM, NT time 1:45:34 (leg 1 only) Шаблон:BreakCARS – Toby Price, Mitsubishi,

• 2022

BIKES – David Walsh, , NT time 03:35:45 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Toby Price/Jason Duncan, Mitsubishi, time 3:21:46.2

• 2023

BIKES – David Walsh, KTM, NT time 03:35:48.9 Шаблон:BreakCARS – Toby Price/Jason Duncan, Mitsubishi, QLD time 3:21:46

See also

• Australian Off Road Championship

External links

• Шаблон:Official website