Day one of the 50th edition of the Tatts Finke Desert Race produced record pace, and unexpected results.
In the battle for the outright win, it initially looked to be a three-horse race between the first three starters, pushing each other to the limit to keep their cumulative positions.
Yesterday’s Prologue and last year’s Tatts Finke Desert Race winner Travis Robinson(#1) arrived first at Aputula / Finke, provisionally leading the cars category with a massive margin after day one.
Making the journey in 1 hour and 36 minutes, a record producing time, Travis and navigator Paul Currie will start tomorrow with a margin of 9 minutes and 23 seconds, putting them in a great position for a potential back-to-back Finke victory.
Having started first in the early hours of sunlight near Alice Springs, they completed the 200km plus route with incredible speed and skill, leaving their mark on the Tatts Finke Desert Race in their Trophy Truck 4WD.
“That was rough, we set a pace we thought was good enough to beat everyone,” Travis reflected.
“I think we did a few (jumps) but we set the record when I was probably 18 years old so it’s good to get another one
“Still a long way back there tomorrow so I won’t count my chickens before they hatch.”
Unfortunately for his brother Beau Robinson (#2), he faced issues with his car, pulling over at multiple points to address flat tyres and steering problems.
Beau and navigator Shane Hutt would eventually finish in 32nd outright, 36 minutes behind his brother, but with the opportunity to make up lost ground tomorrow.
Boston Morgan-Horan and navigator Will Haddock (#489) emerged as the second car into Aputula / Finke.
After pilling on the pressure from the start, his car arrived with its left rear tyre gone, having driven the last 40 kilometres with only three wheels in a remarkable effort.
Despite having lost some time on the first leg of the route, they remain the biggest challenge to Travis Robinson going into the return journey to Alice Springs.
Greg Gartner (#410) also put in an impressive performance, finishing the first race day of Australia’s most iconic off-road race in third, fourteen minutes behind the leader.
For Finke’s most successful racer in its 50-year history, Toby Price (#6104) suffered a gearbox issue from the lead of the Side-by-Side class, promoting Glen Ackroyd (#601) into the class lead after the leg to Aputula/Finke.
Full results from Race Day 1 can be viewed here.
