The KTM Desert Racing Team’s first official outing may well be its most important, as this weekend’s 39th running of the Finke Desert Race bursts into action between Alice Springs and the township of Finke.
The 480-kilometre, two-day journey from Alice Springs South to Finke and back is a unique test of rider and motorcycle – and simply the biggest, most high profile event on the Aussie desert racing calendar.
Led by four-time Finke winner Ben Grabham, the KTM factory team also comprises dual winner Toby Price and new face Ivan Long, the talented South Australian who finished fifth outright in 2013 as a privateer.
All three will ride KTM’s off-road flagship, the 500 EXC, and while both Price and Long are coming off niggling injuries, both have pre-run well and all three are optimistic about their outright prospects in the race, which sees a Saturday Prologue before the race down on Sunday, and the trip back on the Monday Queen’s Birthday holiday.
KTM stocks will be boosted by young gun Wayde Carter, the 2013 Australian junior motocross champion now a young senior and aspiring desert racer, and looking in excellent form aboard his KTM 250 SX.
The Alice Springs-based Branford Desert Racing Team will feature 26-year-old 2006 winner Ryan Branford on a KTM 450 SX-F, as well as similarly-mounted Kenny Armstead and his twin brother Robbie Armstead (KTM 250 SX-F).
Ben Grabham, Team Manager: “The whole team is as healthy as they can be, Toby is coming off a bit of an injury and so is Longy, but, with everything I’ve seen out there they’re both looking nice and strong and pretty comfortable on their bikes. The mechanics have done their jobs and the bikes are looking great so at this stage we’re very happy with how it’s going. The team’s been here in its entirety since last Friday, we’ve done a few runs to have a look at the track, and the new race bikes are feeling nice and fresh. Now we’ll just try to freshen up the body for a couple of days to feel good for the race. Both myself and Toby have had a lot of success here over the years, so it’s a matter of us being able to do what we know works, and the 500 EXC has been great. One of the best things is that it’s registered, so we can ride out to the start line and do our kays, and not worry about doing anything illegal. Personally, it’s been a pretty big build-up to get out here, but now we’re ready to go. The bike I’ve got this year is as good as or better than anything I’ve ever won on, it’s just a matter of me doing what I need to do. The big key to this race the way it’s looking at the moment will be to Prologue well because of the dust. I have won from 16th place before, but it’s looking very dry and dusty this year. When KTM was on a bit of a winning streak I think everyone took notice of what we were doing and now everyone does a lot of kays coming into the event. I believe we’ll face pretty stiff competition from all the other colours out there. I have faith in all the boys and the mechanics and crew though, so if everyone does their best, we should have one of us at the front.”Toby Price: “Since I’ve been doing Finke it’s the one you always look forward to, there is no race anywhere in the world really that’s got speeds as high as this. The average speed is just huge; you get excited for it, and a lot of prep goes into it. There are a few sections you could be wide open and not really close the throttle for anything from 5 to 7 minutes. But most of the time you’re only just shutting off to set up for a turn or something and the rest of the time you’re just going as fast as you can. It can be a little bit scary in a few places, but bloody good fun! Being in Alice Springs this time of year it’s just huge, there are a lot of interstaters and locals here and everybody’s really excited. Physically I’m still having a few little dramas with my wrist and I’ve got the brace on but I can’t really complain too much, this race only comes once a year so I’m not going to sit on the sidelines because of a bit of a sore wrist. I’m riding well, but this is my first high-speed race since my injury, we’ll just do what we can come race day.”Ivan Long – “The knee is getting really strong and Pod knee braces have come on board to help me as well so that’s helped. I’m feeling pretty tidy, for once, and I’ve got a good setup that I like as well. We’ll see how Prologue goes. It’s almost like Supercross, this race, you can’t lose focus. You’ve got to be so conscious of what is going on the whole time. It’s also a bit daunting, racing Toby as well as Ben, knowing that at the end of the day, you all want to get the number one place. But it’s great to finally have the support I’ve always wanted, and I’m really enjoying the 500 EXC. I was wanted to ride the EXC, and last year I got the opportunity to, even though it was a 2012, and I got fifth outright. This year, we got good pace and I’ve got good strength, and it’s a lot to do with the KTM program that they put me on. They certainly know how to make an athlete work. Everyone around here is so pumped up. Even when you’re pre-running down the track, everyone’s pumped, especially when they see an orange by coming down the track, they know we are down there for one reason and reason is that we want to win. Everyone’s got their eyes on us, and you’d be crazy to count us out.”
Wayde Carter – “I’ve done Hattah the last 6 years and I’ve always wanted to do Finke, and hearing how great it is here and how good the people are I thought I would give it a crack when I turned senior, so here I am. I’m bloody excited to see what it will be like in the race. I’ve done some testing with Grabbo, Pricey, and all the mechanics so that was an awesome help I would have been lost without. A huge thanks to them. Dad’s got a bit of experience with Finke too. It’s a lot different to Hattah, the sand up here is a lot more bull-dusty and the whoops are a lot more stretched out and there aren’t as many turns. The 250SX has a bit more bottom and mid and I’ve geared it as high as I can – hopefully it will pull it! I’d like to put the KTM on the podium, so we’ll see how I can do.”
Ryan Branford – “Last year I had a pretty dud run and thought about pulling the pin, but now I’ve upped the training, put in a lot of hard work, lost 20-odd kilos and I think I’ve found the form I had probably three or four years ago. I think it’s put me back in the mix to compete with the top five guys, so now I figure I might hang around until the 40th anniversary of the Finke next year.
I was the last local to win here, and I still get a lot of pressure from locals thinking that I should still be on top. This year I’m riding the Branford Desert Racing Team KTM 450 SX-F alongside Kenny Armstead on another one and Robbie Armstead and a 250 SX-F. She’s going to be a race of attrition of man and bike this year from what I’ve seen lately; the track is pretty rough – it’s starting to remind me of what it was 4 or 5 years ago. A lot of bulldust is starting to resurface, and there are a lot of big square edges so it’s going to be pretty testing physically.”
