Recap and results from 2022 Hattah Desert Race

2022 Penrite Hattah Desert Race

Daniel Sanders has taken victory for GasGas at the 2022 Hattah Desert Race, in a triumphant return to domestic competition within Australia.

Often described as ‘four hours of hell’, Hattah is also widely regarded as the most challenging off-road race in Australia. It takes place in north-western Victoria just south of Mildura and can attract as many as 700 competitors across the categories.

Sanders kicked off the weekend with second in the prologue, behind Lachlan Terry, before winning the Top 10 Shootout held on Saturday, ahead of Todd Waters and Jack Simpson.

Callum Norton, Andrew Wilksch, Cooper Sheidow, Lachlan Terry, Samuel Pretscherer, Riley Graham and Liam Mason completed that top-10 line-up and that was the order they finished in.

Starting from P1 for Sunday’s eight-lap senior race, Sanders delivered a spectacular performance to capture his second crown at the prestigious event, finishing 2m31.980s clear of his nearest rival.

Daniel Sanders – P1

“It was a mad rush to get to the start line at Hattah this year, but I had a lot of people behind me, helping me out with a lot of support from GASGAS Australia, Red Bull and a few other good companies! I grabbed my old mechanic Lewie [Landrigan] from MotoLab, who came and helped me out, so we had a good core group of people around me. We went into the Prologue with a pretty fast bike and just had a good run, passed a few lappers, finished second in that, then got the victory in the Top 10 Shootout by half a second. It was good to take off on Sunday and have fresh air, I was able to put in a good first lap and save a lot of energy, and also the second lap, then the guys were pushing the pace, riding really well in the third, fourth lap, and sort of dropped off a bit halfway through. I kept cruising along, diesel training and got the victory in the end and was able to claw the gap out to two and a half minutes, which was good!”

Husqvarna Motorcycles’ Todd Waters landed on the second step of the podium, after being fifth quickest in the Prologue and narrowly missing out on victory in the Top 10 Shootout.

The Queensland-based rider went on to secure P2 following four gruelling hours of competition, completing the eight laps with a total time of 4h10m15.368s aboard his FE 501 – also winning the Over 450cc Four-Stroke category.

Todd Waters – P2

“I was excited to make my debut at Hattah and to finish on the podium was a real reward for myself and the whole team involved. The FE 501 was awesome to ride, my first time racing that bike and a first for me in the desert, so we were stoked to win our class as well! It definitely wasn’t an easy race, but the result was a good one for us and I look forward to coming back here again in the future after what we learned this weekend.”

Joining Waters on the podium was Husqvarna-mounted Jack Simpson, who displayed great form throughout both days and added to his Finke Desert Race podium achieved last month.

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Simford Racing rider Andy Wilksch made it three Husqvarna riders in the top four outright.

Prologue winner Lachlan Terry closed out the top-five, ahead of Josh Green and Sam Pretscherer, with Beau Ralston, Nathan Trigg and Riley Graham completing the top-10 overall. Pretscherer also won the U19s class.

In the Saturday Small Wheels Race, Riley Delaney won, ahead of Malakai Middleton and Curtis Morrison. Byron Dennis won the Big Wheels Race, ahead of Levi Stephens and Thomas O’Dwyer.

Matt Sherman won the 251 cc & Over 2-stroke class, Sanders naturally topped the 251-450cc 4-stroke class. Kelly Catanese topped the Ladies four-lap race, with Emma Milesevic winning the Ladies eight-lap race, ahead of Madi Healey and Emmelie Karlsson.

Emelie Karlsson

“The Prologue was super-fast and pretty fun, but I made a couple of mistakes and I caught another rider on my lap. I finished sixth in that one, although I wasn’t too stressed about that. In the race today, I just decided I was going to try and get into a rhythm on the first lap, stay away from all of the mayhem that goes on, then I worked my way up a bit. I just kept rolling on, but had a really sore back as I’m still recovering from the fever that I had earlier this year – the joints get a bit sore. Still, I kept working away and finished third, so I am happy with that!”

Michael Widdison won the Masters 45+ category, Jacob Eustace the Up to 250cc 2-strokes, and Kyron Bacon topped the up to 250cc 4-strokes. Alan Graham won the Veterans 35-44 class.

2022 Hattah Desert Race Outright Result

2022 Hattah Desert Race Prologue (Top 20)

2022 Hattah Desert Race Top Ten Shootout