JerryLand
Five Questions with Finke Desert Race legend Rick Hall
Five Questions with Finke Desert Race legend Rick Hall
by Jerry Bernardo
The Finke Desert race is held once a year in the middle of Australia in Alice Springs, NT. The race itself can be a bit of a dustbowl but I have never been to an off-road event that equals the blinding speeds of the Finke‑‑that is if you have the balls to hold it wide-open until you see God.
JB: The Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs is well-known down under. The limited number of fans who know about it in the states realize that it is your Superbowl of Aussie offroad racing. What makes the Finke so special?
RH: It’s that kind of race! As you know, we grabbed the biggest bore dirt bike we could, did everything to the engine for extra horsepower, then geared it to the moon. I lived in the time when pre-running became one of the ingredients for winning and, quite honestly, the race became faster, safer, and more amazing from a spectator’s point of view. We get ten to 15 thousand people camped along the course for anywhere up to a week just to take it all in. There are massive sections of whoops, high speed rocky outcrops and just some completely lay-on-the-tank, fully pinned road sections. The track follows an old railway line, so there are not very many sharp turns. The Finke is iconic in Australia, on the eve of its 50th anniversary, the organisers have about 1200 entries for 2026. This is double the amount of any previous field. The race itself gets national media exposure, and for us in the dirt bike world, is pretty cool! And yes mate, we have trucks, buggies and the caged four wheelers.
JB: When you won the Finke in 199 and 2002 your choice of weapon was a Honda CR500 geared to the moon at 15/36. Explain to us why the trusty CR500 was so dominant at such a tough and demanding desert race.
RH: The CR 500 dominated for 13 years! I had the privilege of being the last Finke winner on a two stroke, fortunately my Finke winning bikes are still in my shed. A rider by the name of Randall Gregory proved how reliable the Honda was by winning five straight from ‘91 to ‘95. The CR500 wasn’t for everyone so once you mastered riding one, you were half a chance at winning. Adding aftermarket suspension usually made them the perfect package. In recent years, Finke has been dominated by KTM’s, piloted by the likes of Ben Grabham, Toby Price, and David Walsh. The boys notched up 15 wins between them. 13 of the wins were on a KTM.
JB: Any young kid growing up in Alice who loves dirt bikes dreams of winning the Finke and being crowned the “King of the Desert”. Locals Daymon Stokie and David Walsh accomplished that goal, yet it was Walsh who just retired after a dominating five wins at Finke. What made David Walsh so special?
RH: I’m not sure, maybe suicidal tendencies? That is a bloody good question JB. There have been a lot of high-quality riders privileged to the same amount of pre running and bikes as the locals. It is only the likes of Ben Grabham and Toby Price who have managed to repeatedly beat the locals. I have always known you need a secret ingredient to win Finke: one must be willing to risk it all is probably #1. Finke winners don’t really fit in a mould found anywhere else.
JB: The Finke Desert Race is 286 miles in total, with each leg being around 142 miles long, covering a brutal, high-speed course from Alice Springs to Aputula (Finke) and back. Talk about the course itself and how a multi-time winner like Toby Price blazed one leg in just under two hours.
RH: Under two hours one way is the benchmark. That was the goal in my day, even though the track is rougher now, the bikes are better, so for the right rider under two hours is realistic. 1hour 50 minutes was my best time. Anywhere around that is now the norm. Back in the day, it was a Le Mans shotgun start, that followed a service line along a railway track. It started in 1976, evolving into the event it is today. It has long sections of whoops through rich red sand, some gnarly rocky sections, as well as some square edge pitted straights. Buggies became part of the event some years ago, pushing the whoops even larger and longer, which brings a higher element of WTF in terms of the size of the whoops.
JB: Having big balls at Finke is one thing. Other factors include course knowledge, suspension, strength and the ability to hold it wide-open while erasing the fear of a kangaroo crossing in front of you at speed. Do you still find that sort of adrenaline rush gratifying?
RH: I rode it this year at 53 years old for a bit of fun, which it still is. It is addictive, I guess it is the adrenaline. That was my 24th Finke. We usually can bounce off roos, it’s the cattle and desert oak trees that don’t have much give in them. Fitness is essential, a no limit type of fitness. This year’s winner, Corey Hammond, trained solid for twelve months. Even when he lined up, he was still not the favourite to win. You must ignore that “safety mechanism” in your brain that is telling you to back off for the corner coming at you at 160kph plus. If you ever get the chance to catch the film “Finke: There and Back” it may put everything into perspective.
Editor’s note: The perpetual trophy for the Finke Desert Race was won in 1996 by American racer Dan Ashcraft who brought the trophy back home to America with him. It remained ‘lost’ until Jerry B and Steve Hengeveld located Dan and reclaimed the trophy returning it back to Alice Springs in 2006.
If anyone is interested in riding or racing the Finke course, a local tour company offers tours and race packages where you just show up with your gear and they take care of everything else. Contact: www.outbackmotorcycleadventures.com.au/
