Finke Desert Race 2006

Ryan Branford wins the 2006 Finke Desert race

After a delayed start to Day 3 #8 Ryan Branford (CRF450) has taken first Honours in the 2006 Finke desert race. 

As with yesterday he was followed over the line by #782 Brad Williscroft (KTM525) into second place and #5 Ben Grabham (CRF450) 3rd.

Caleb Auricht # 14 (Yamaha YZ450) finished in fourth position.

NEWS UPDATE; DAY 2

Branford blitzes Finke………..

In a ‘change of the guard’ Alice Springs teenager Ryan Branford riding his Honda CRF450 bike # 8 has demolished the bike field to take his first win in Australia’s biggest desert event, the 2006 Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race.

Branford has been a winner since the start of this year’s classic, taking ‘pole’ position for the start of the event by clocking the fastest time during the prologue, being first into Finke yesterday and coming home today to Alice Springs with his rivals not even close enough to eat his dirt.

After prologue Branford appeared quietly confident stating that a top five finish would be satisfying but adding that he wasn’t ‘racing to lose’ and he was as good as his word with today’s awe-inspiring road.

The 19-year old has only ridden three previous Finke events, his previous best results being 7th in 2004 and 8th last year (2005).

In the car race the father and son team of Shannon and Ian Rentsch from Warrnambool in Victoria in their #1 Chenowth buggy have won their second consecutive victory in the Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race.

Speaking immediately after the finish the pair stated they ‘would be back next year to make it three in a row’.

The Rentsch combination said they had a relatively untroubled run back from Finke today, but driver Shannon said they had hit a ‘fairly big’ tree on the way down to Finke yesterday and considered it a lucky escape.

Rentsch described the track as ‘rough’.

The un-official time for the winning car was 3 hours 59 minutes and 39 seconds.

Second in today’s event were Hayden Bentley and Ben Chivell #118 Jimco Buggy from South Australia.

Third place went to the NSW crew of Terry Rose and David Hartwig also in a Jimco buggy #111.

It was a great drive for the third place getters considering they started in sixth position at Finke this morning.

NEWS UPDATE; DAY 2

Delayed start for bikes…………

The bike start for the return journey of the 306 strong bike field from Finke to Alice Springs has been delayed until 12 noon CST.

The reason for putting the start back by 30 minutes is in the interests of safety to ensure all cars have been cleared from the track.
 

Rentsch/Rentsch two in a row……

The father and son team of Shannon and Ian Rentsch from Warrnambool in Victoria in their #1 Chenowth buggy have won their second consecutive victory in the Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race.

NEWS UPDATE; DAY 1

Winner and losers on day 1…….….…….

The Victorian father and son buggy team of Shannon and Ian Rentsch and Alice Springs teenage bike rider Ryan Branford have taken first day honours at the 2006 Finke Desert Race

The 226-kilometre dash from Alice Springs to Finke on day one of the classic race was never going to be easy and the 31st running of the event proved no different.

While the Rentsch father and son combination completed the journey in 1 hour 57 minutes and 9 seconds – 54 seconds quicker than their winning time last year, some of their more fancied rivals didn’t even make it.

Buggy #108 with the Alice Springs crew of Danny Auricht and Paul Davies suffered a mechanical break down as did Victorians Mark Burrows and Michael Shannon in buggy #121.

Running second in the buggies are Hayden Bentley/Ben Chivell from South Australia, while in third place today was the Victorian team of Glennn Owen/ Deon Beattie.

A total of 67 buggies made the half way mark in the race with 21 not completing the distance.

Ryan Branford’s leading bike (#8) time today was 2 hours 14 minutes and 1 sec with heavy dust making for relatively slow times.

Second bike into Finke was that of Brad Williscroft #782, the New South Wales rider some 25 seconds adrift of the leader.

Third placed bike was #5 Ben Grabham also from New South Wales.

The bike field that totaled 344 also suffered a number of non-finishers including last year’s winner, Darwin policeman Jason Hill #1 who suffered a seized engine and Gavin Chapman #2 from Alice Springs who re-injured his shoulder.

Three other riders, Thomas Wood #531, Ben Austin #589 and Shane Sullivan #712 have been admitted to hospital following accidents.

The race continues tomorrow with cars leaving Finke at 7.30amCST and bikes at 11.30amCST with the first cars expected back at Alice Springs at approx. 9.30am and first bikes at 1.30pmCST
 

Here we are at the start line of the Finke Desert Race.

The conditions are incredibly dusty at the moment.

Unfortunately Jason Hills blew his engine in the prologue area not far down the track from the start line. About three quarters of the way through the pack we witnessed a bit of a cumagutsa between a Quad and bike.

Shane Sullivan from Port Douglas on a CRF450X had a bit of an altercation with Steven Cooper on a Yamaha YFZ450 Quad and ended up pinned down under the Quad in the middle of the track with Steve lying down on the outside with the wind knocked out of him.

Shane was carted away to Alice Springs hospital with a suspected Knee injury and busted ribs. We’ll get results to on the race as it progresses so keep checking the site for more details.

Cheers

Rick Los.

NEWS UPDATE; DAY 1

Bikes slower than cars…….…….

#8 Ryan Branford has gone through Bundooma in first position with a time of 1:15:12 .

His time to that point was 7 minutes 25 seconds slower than the fastest car.

He is still being followed by #5 Brad Williscroft (1:16:58 and #5 Ben Grabham (1:17:32)

Caleb Auricht # 14 is in fourth position with a time to Bundooma of 1:21:37.

Next through Bundooma were:
#11 Luke Forte
#3 Ben Brooks
#10 Shane Cole
#799 Warren Strange
#716 Glen BellNEWS UPDATE; DAY 1  #8

Lovett legend continues………..

The legendary Phil Lovett who won three Finke Desert Races in 1981, 1982, and 1985 and placed second in 1988, with a third in 1992 continues to amaze.

In his twenty plus years of Finke competition Phil Lovett has completed the prologue course for the 2006 Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race in a remarkable 17th position.

Aboard his KTM525 (# 881), Phil Lovett who comes from Cessnock in New South Wales finished the prologue with a time of 5 minutes and 34 seconds.

Lovett, who is competing in the Class 8 bikes category for veterans 45 years and over, is now the provisional first and very worthy recipient of the Greg Lincoln Memorial Trophy.

The Greg Lincoln Memorial Trophy is being awarded by the Finke Desert Racing Club with the approval of the Lincoln family to celebrate the life of Greg ‘Bags’ Lincoln from Trafalger in Victoria who died while riding in the prologue at last year’s event.

Bradd Lincoln, Greg’s son is competing in this year’s event.

He is reported to be using his late father’s bike in the Class 2 451cc and above 4-stroke category and finished the prologue course in 6 minutes and 51 seconds in 25th class position. Bradd’s mother and sister are in Alice Springs for the event.
 

2006 Tattersall’s Finke Race starts tomorrow………

Australia’s largest desert event, the Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race begins tomorrow following the qualifying prologue sessions held today on an 8.3 kilometre circuit located just outside Alice Springs.

Topping the times was 19-year-old local Alice Springs rider Ryan Branford who managed to beat the fastest four-wheel machine of fellow Alice Springs residents Danny Auricht and Paul Davies.

Tomorrow, some 360 bikes and 88 cars face the start of the 2006 Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race, that’s a mini Dakar style event with two days of competition up and back a bone rattling track from Alice Springs to Finke for a total distance of 452 kilometres.

Today’s prologue was dominated by the bikes after a number of years of supremacy from the more powerful cars, and it was Ryan Branford on a Honda CRF450 (#8) who stopped the clocks with a time of 5 minutes and 3 seconds to beat the quickest car (buggy # 108) of Alice Springs crew Danny Auricht by two seconds.

Last year’s bike winner, Darwin policeman Jason Hill was second fastest of the two wheel brigade aboard bike #1 another Honda CRF450.

The third fastest bike time was shared by three riders - NSW rider Ben Grabham (Honda bike#5), Alice Springs rider Caleb Auright (Yamaha YZ450F #14), and Brad Williscroft (KTM EXC525 #782) from NSW.

Second fastest car was that of the 2005 buggy winning crew of Victorian father and son team Shannon and Ian Rentsch in their Chenowth Buggy #1, followed by fellow Victorians Mark Burrows and Michael Shannon in a MRB Jimco machine.

A notable non-finisher was the Alice Springs team of David Fellows and Andrew Kittle who rolled their buggy without injury. They are still expected to start tomorrow.

Together, with the cream of Australia’s off-road competitor’s an international flavour was added to the event with the addition of American rider Steve Hengeveld.

The multiple Baja winner completed the prologue course in a time of 5 minutes and 46 seconds in 23rd position.

The Finke Desert Race Committee reported a crowd of 3,500 at the prologue in the 31st year of the event, after 4,500 people attended scrutineering yesterday.

The event’s website www.finkedesertrace.com.au has received more than 5,000 hits during today’s competition.
 

“Bikes beat cars at prologue in 2006 Finke Race……….

Bikes are back on top at the 2006 Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race, at least in terms of prologue times.

The fastest bike #8 Ryan Branford from Alice Springs aboard a Honda CRF450 clocked a time of 5 minutes and 3 seconds beating today’s fastest car time of 5 minutes and five seconds set by the #108 Jimco Buggy of Alice Springs team Danny Auricht and Paul Davies.

Last year’s Finke top prologue time for bikes was 5 minutes and 15 seconds set by Caleb Auricht of Alice Springs on a Yamaha.

19 year old Branford is riding in his fourth Finke event with his best results being a 7th in 2004 and 8th last year.

“I really went for it during the prologue, but I didn’t ride in a crazy fashion, but used the fast lines on the outside of the corners’, Branford said.

His super fast time came despite breaking an exhaust header on the bike.

“I saw it fall off about 500 metres from the finish line’, he said.

As for predicting the outcome of the event Branford says a top five finish would be satisfying but he is not going into the race ‘to lose it’.

Second fastest time this year went to last year’s Finke bike winner Jason Hill #1 Honda CRF450R who stopped the clock at 5 minutes and 9 seconds with a speed across the finish line of 116kph.

Hill is a policeman from Darwin in the NT.

The third fastest bike was that of Ben Grabham from Glanmire NSW (#5 Honda CRF450R) with a time of 5 minutes 14 seconds with Alice Springs resident Caleb Auricht (#14 YamahaYZ450F) with the same time.

Ben Brooks from Alice Springs #3 Honda CRF450 who came third in last year’s event was next with a time of 5 minutes 16 seconds.