Motorcycling SA

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The countdown to FINKE 2018 is well and truly on!

Filed Under: News

The 2018 Tatts Finke Desert Race is now only days away from kicking off in the heart of Australia at Alice Springs, with this year seeing a huge South Aussie contingent descending on the ‘red heart’ to do battle along the old Ghan railway line!

Of the 624 motorcycle entries for the 2018 Finke, 104 are from South Australia, in what might well be the largest ever entry from our state! Led by the 2017 runner-up in Ivan Long, this is also one of the strongest line ups of SA talent to do battle with some for Australia’s greatest desert races, with former winner, and Dakar Rallye winner, Toby Price, once again the likely man to beat! He will also be the man to watch as he once again chases double glory and a win on 2 wheels and 4 wheels in the same year!

SA has never had an outright winner in this most famous desert race, and perhaps the time might be right in 2018 for Ivan to break through and finally get that elusive win. 2017 saw him fastest by a long way on the return journey from Finke to Alice on day 2, but day 1 was his demise with the loss of his back brake, with the minutes it cost to sort the issue the difference between 1st & 2nd!

4th last year, and to have 2 Croweaters in the top 5 was a brilliant local effort, Mount Gambier’s Kent Collins, is back this year to try and go at least 1 better and grab a podium spot, and a best ever finish! And wouldn’t it be awesome to see 2 South Aussies on the podium of Australia’s famous desert classic!

Also looking to get in and amongst the top 20, and with a good chance of a top 10 finish are the ‘Throup Troop’, brothers Sean, Tristan & Nick, who have all started the year strongly in SAORC & SART rounds, and will be out to beat each other for family bragging rights as well!

Also look out for SAMX rider (and coach) Daniel Banks, as well as former MX rider Brett Haydon, sidecar ace Sam Hutchesson having a ride without a 3rd wheel for a change, as well as the father & son combo of, MSA president, Brenton Matters and his lad, Jake, with more family bragging rights at stake!

Also, keep an eye out for another sidecar ace in Matthew Neldner, who is heading to Finke armed with his trusty ‘ole’ Honda XR 250, which may well be one of the oldest bikes on the start line this year – and knowing Matt, look for him to cross that finish line on Sunday arvo!

Motorcycling SA wish all of our South Australian riders good luck this weekend – ride hard, ride safe, and cross the line on Sunday!

You can follow all of Team SA, and all of the riders & drivers on the live scores at; www.finkedesertrace.com.au

2018 SART Championship – Round 3! The Lew Job reliability trial, run by the VELOCETTE MCC

Filed Under: News, Reliability

This June Long Weekend, Saturday & Sunday, the 9th & 10thth, sees round 3 of the 2018 South Australian Reliability Trials Championships, the Velocette MCC’s Lew Job Reliability Trial – the Robbie 2-Day – being run, and as always, starting from the Robertstown Oval at Robertstown in the state’s mid north!  

Just over 90 riders will tackle some of SA Reliability Trials most iconic sections this weekend, with Springhut Creek once again likely to be the highlight for most riders. Leading the field out onto the course will be the sidecars, with the team of Darren Winter & Lachlan Greenhalgh first bike away!

2nd bike away will be the visiting Victorian team of Justin & Melissa Foot, riding only their 2nd reliability trial, after a long career on bitumen, as well as dabbling in trials sidecars as well!

The solo charge will be led by 3 different ‘generations’ of motorcycling here in SA, with the ‘veteran’ Rowan Pumpa looking to keep the current top dog, Todd Barry, and the future threat, Alex Heidenreich, at bay over the 2 days – and as they are mre minutes apart on the course, this will be the battle to watch.

Keep an eye out for numbers 32 & 33 as well, the Class P (old bikes) riders Colin ‘Slob’ Jay and Sean Heidenreich – it would be a fair bet that the sledging between these 2 will be ‘hotter’ than their ‘action’ on the bike, but still great to see the old bikes going around so well!

The first bike will start at 1.31pm on Saturday and 9.00am on Sunday, with riders doing 2 laps each day of a course that should take them about 2 hours & 20 minutes!

To catch all the action – head to the Robertstown Oval and grab an egg & bacon sanga, a coffee and a programme, which will tell you all you need to know in regards to who is riding and where the best spots to catch the action are (spectator paddocks) – and then head back to the Oval to welcome home the riders at the end of their journey each day – and grab a lamb roll from the awesome catering the Robertstown community will have on site!