Corey Hammond Crowned King of the Desert At 2025 Tatts Finke Desert Race

Around 10,000 spectators turned out to watch the 2025 Tatts Finke Desert Race, and they weren’t disappointed as Corey Hammond delivered a standout performance to be crowned the Finke’s newest King of the Desert.

The 23-year-old privateer, supported by Sutto’s Powersports, led the field from the front on the final day’s 223-kilometre run back to Alice Springs, crossing the line with a total time of 3 hours, 46 minutes and 30 seconds aboard his KTM 500 EXC-F. His stage win on the return leg cemented a dominant performance, having also won on the way down to Finke.

“I knew we always had a chance, obviously a bit of bad luck for a few of the top boys who crashed out,” said Hammond. “Just always believed in myself.”

Chasing him home was good mate Campbell Hall, who claimed his first-ever Finke podium. The Dubbo City Motorcycles-supported rider clocked in eleven and a half minutes behind Hammond for second place.

“I wasn’t really expecting it, just did my own race, it paid off and keen already for next year,” Hall said. “The whole track is brutal, so I charged the whole way, and it’s addictive.”

Brodie Waters got Honda back on the podium in third place, but not before going over the bars in a big way near the end of the stage—a crash that left him seeing stars. He managed to remount and recover to finish with a time of 4 hours and 53 seconds, a further three minutes back from Hall.

“It’s good to get Honda back on the podium and the first 450 on the podium in a while,” Waters said.

Unfortunately, the race ended in disappointment for last year’s runner-up favourite Callum Norton, who was forced to withdraw after suffering from illness. Norton had won the Prologue convincingly on Saturday afternoon, setting the fastest time by 10 seconds and starting strong on Sunday’s opening leg. Despite waking up with a severe virus, the 24-year-old braved the conditions to reach Finke in fourth with a time of 2h 04mv08.796s.

With his condition worsening overnight, Norton and the STE KTM Racing Team made the tough call not to start the return leg, prioritising health and a strong comeback at Hattah.

“It was a super-disappointing way to end our Finke campaign,” said team owner Jason Stewart. “But it’s the way it goes sometimes, unfortunately, and it’s out of anyone’s hands. He rode awesome to win the Prologue… and did a mega job to even get down to Finke on Sunday, given the state he was in. Finke is too much of a demanding race to head out there like that. No one is more disappointed than Callum, although we’ll rest up and come out swinging for Hattah now.”

The second STE KTM Racing entry of Liam Walsh was also ruled out of this year’s event due to an injury in the lead-up.

In the women’s division, Madi Healey successfully defended her Queen of the Desert crown, making it back-to-back titles and continuing KTM’s dominant form.

“I think the rain made it a lot rougher this year,” Healey admitted. “I was really surprised by the square edges and all of that, but my bike and fitness and all that went really well, so I’m happy with it.”