Day 2 of the Finke Desert race is tough, bodies aching (for most of us) but ready to ride the 229km back to Alice Springs. I was so cold overnight at Finke, cold enough for 10mm of ice on the seat in the morning. The GHR crew cooked up a big breakky for the real riders (I got some too though) and with us all geared up it was waiting time for the start of the return leg.

The NT's Matthew Stone set a blistering time on the way home almost 4 minutes faster on his KTM than Wes Miller but not enough to overhaul the overall time of Wes or the first quad into Finke, Chad McKay who's 4th fastest time home was enough for him to take the Quad Class win by just under a minute giving Can Am their 2nd win in the last 4 years. Smitty's lost time and two places on the way home with a clutch problem, coming back 4 minutes slower than he went down but still managing to out do the young guns Jake and Mitch Van Vliet.

I struggled physically on the way back to Alice for the first part but came good around the halfway mark to be able to have a bit of a race with some of the other quads but with my borrowed DS450 bleeding oil from the engine making it home was the top priority after quite a few engines had expired during the race from lack of oil on the inside. I am glad though that I finally got to ride this race after all the years of coming up here to support riders and I need to thank everyone who helped me to get there, Mick@47 for his help with parts and general just being Mick, Smitty for the encouragement (and transport, accom, KFC, etc...) Scooter for the the time off work, Noodles for lending me his DS450 to ride, Danny for the Fox Shocks, and of course my wife Sairs for her support in my crazy ideas like going to races like this all the time.

And so ends my Finke adventures for another year, who know what next year will bring, I may just make a return to crew for Smitty again but I fear that I may have caught the Finke fever which see's many riders return every year to try and better themselves at this prestigious event. See you next year Alice Springs.

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