Five-time King of the Desert, Toby Price, has blitzed the bike field to arrive at Finke in 1 hour, 57 minutes and 45.6 seconds on Race Day 1 of the 2018 Tatts Finke Desert Race.
Price, aboard his KTM 500 EXC-F, is on track with his Iron Man Finke Double attempt after finishing second fastest in his truck earlier this morning. The 2016 Dakar champion is aiming to make history by winning both car and bike categories tomorrow.
After a disappointing Prologue, local hero
David Walsh moved through the field today to finish in second place at the half way mark, 4 minutes and 12.8 seconds slower than Price.
Geelong‰Ûªs
Callum Norton was the first of the Hondas to make it to Finke, setting a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 5.5 seconds on the rough and dusty track.
Jack Simpson was one of six Victorians to finish in the top ten, coming in fourth ahead of tomorrow‰Ûªs highly-anticipated 2018 edition of the iconic event.
Kent Collins,
Nathan Trigg, Honda mounted
Mark Grove,
Angus Gelly,
Beau Dargel and
Brandon Kienhuis rounded out the top ten in what was a difficult day for all riders in 31 degree heat.
2017 runner-up
Ivan Long, who was second off the line this morning, failed to make the 226km journey to Finke with suspected mechanical failure.
Alice Springs local
Luke Hayes also failed to finish, however not all was lost and he was able to salvage fellow Territorian
Lachy Summers‰Ûª race by giving him a front tyre on the side of the road. Summers went on to arrive at the final checkpoint in 16th place.
After camping overnight, the bikes will leave Finke tomorrow (Monday) morning at 11.45am CST for the run back to the Alice Springs finish with the first bikes expected to arrive at approximately 2.05pm CST.
Full results for the 583-strong field can be found here
2018 DAY 1: PROVISIONAL TOP 50 - OUTRIGHT (10 Jun 2018)
Pos Competitor Bike Time Gap To Leader
1 PRICE, TOBY - KTM 500 EXC-F 01:57:45.6
2 WALSH, DAVID - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:01:58.4 + 00:04:12.8
3 NORTON, CALLUM - HONDA CRF450R 02:11:05.5 + 00:13:19.9
4 SIMPSON, JACK - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:12:22.5 + 00:14:36.9
5 COLLINS, KENT - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:15:56.2 + 00:18:10.6
6 TRIGG, NATHAN - SHERCO 450 SEF 02:17:11.0 + 00:19:25.4
7 GROVE, MARK - HONDA CRF250R 02:18:41.5 + 00:20:55.9
8 AURICHT, CALEB - HONDA CRF250 02:21:22.9 + 00:23:37.3
9 GELLY, ANGUS - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:21:57.7 + 00:24:12.1
10 DARGEL, BEAU - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:26:39.8 + 00:28:54.2
11 KIENHUIS, BRANDON - HUSQVARNA FE 501 02:27:21.5 + 00:29:35.9
12 ANDREWS, JERAKYE - YAMAHA YZ250F 02:28:49.2 + 00:31:03.6
13 CARROLL, BRETT - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:30:16.0 + 00:32:30.4
14 BANKS, DANIEL - KTM 450 EXC-F 02:30:37.7 + 00:32:52.1
15 CRANE, BRODIE - HUSQVARNA FE 450 02:31:53.3 + 00:34:07.7
16 WOOLMAN, LLOYD - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:33:16.1 + 00:35:30.5
17 SUMMERS, LACHLAN - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:33:55.3 + 00:36:09.7
18 ATKINSON, JORDAN - KTM 450 EXC-F 02:35:44.5 + 00:37:58.9
19 COSSENS, RYAN - HONDA CRF250 02:36:18.7 + 00:38:33.1
20 VENN, ANTHONY - HUSQVARNA FE 450 02:36:19.3 + 00:38:33.7
21 TILBROOK, JOSH - HUSQVARNA FE 501 02:38:48.7 + 00:41:03.1
22 SIMPSON, KYLE - HUSQVARNA TE 250 02:39:04.8 + 00:41:19.2
23 WATERS, BRODIE - HONDA CRF450 02:40:24.2 + 00:42:38.6
24 MAYER, PETER - HONDA CRF450RX 02:40:26.3 + 00:42:40.7
25 DOONAN, ADAM - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:40:48.7 + 00:43:03.1
26 CARMICHAEL, CRAIG - HONDA CR500 02:41:21.0 + 00:43:35.4
27 HANDLEY, SAMUEL - KTM 300 EXC 02:41:22.1 + 00:43:36.5
28 WILKSCH, ANDREW - SHERCO 300 SE-R 02:41:38.4 + 00:43:52.8
29 PERKINS, SAM - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:41:39.3 + 00:43:53.7
30 ARMSTEAD, KENNY - KTM 450 SX-F 02:41:52.6 + 00:44:07.0
31 HEBBERMAN, CALLAM - HONDA CRF450 02:43:49.8 + 00:46:04.2
32 CHRISTIE, TODD - KTM 450 02:44:07.7 + 00:46:22.1
33 MCKELLAR, MICHAEL - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:44:39.7 + 00:46:54.1
34 RUSSELL, BENJAMIN - KTM 300 EXC 02:45:22.6 + 00:47:37.0
35 GIBSON, EDWARD - YAMAHA YZ450F 02:46:07.8 + 00:48:22.2
36 SCOBLE, RUSSELL - KTM 450 SX-F 02:46:33.9 + 00:48:48.3
37 IRELAND, RICK - KTM 450 SX-F 02:48:30.2 + 00:50:44.6
38 KAUSCHKE, JACK - HUSQVARNA FE 501 02:48:59.1 + 00:51:13.5
39 ARNTS, MARK - KTM 300 EXC 02:49:16.4 + 00:51:30.8
40 COLLINS, SAMUEL - KTM 450 EXC-F 02:50:21.5 + 00:52:35.9
41 MCMILLAN-MOORE, JESSE - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:50:25.9 + 00:52:40.3
42 DOYLE, NEIL - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:52:35.1 + 00:54:49.5
43 SMITH, GEOFF - KTM 450 EXC-F 02:52:46.3 + 00:55:00.7
44 BAKER, NICHOLAS - KTM 300 EXC 02:53:16.9 + 00:55:31.3
45 O'CONNOR, ADAM - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:54:35.2 + 00:56:49.6
46 VALLENDER, GLEN - KTM 450 XC-F 02:55:10.6 + 00:57:25.0
47 HANLAN, ANTHONY - HUSQVARNA FE 501 02:55:11.2 + 00:57:25.6
48 STEWART, MITCH - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:55:47.6 + 00:58:02.0
49 DALZIEL, PETER - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:55:48.0 + 00:58:02.4
50 O'CONNELL, THOMAS - KTM 500 EXC-F 02:55:55.9 + 00:58:10.3
