Legendary Finke Desert race roared into life with a short-time trial event south of Alice Springs

The Finke Desert Race, held annually in Australia's Northern Territory, is one of the world's most challenging off-road events.

Transcript

00:00It's a proving ground for Australia's toughest, dustiest race.

00:07The prologue is the first petrol-fuelled spectacle for the thousands of rev-heads who've descended on Alice Springs.

00:14For us it's better than Christmas.

00:16Pretty wild, yeah.

00:18Probably one of the best races in the country.

00:22On an 8.3km track just south of town, drivers and riders race against the clock,

00:28trying to secure pole starting position in the main event.

00:31What makes Fink so unique is the variety and intensity of the terrain.

00:36From muddy bogs to sandy berms and bumps, or whoops as racers call them here,

00:41this course serves up many of the perils of the long track to Fink, just on a smaller scale.

00:47It kind of sets you up for the rest of the race and, yeah, I think it plays a crucial role.

00:52In the cars, Travis Robinson took out first place alongside co-driver Paul Currie

00:57in their brand new vehicle, completing the course at a blistering average pace of 101km an hour,

01:03beating his brother Bo Robinson by four seconds.

01:06Obviously we got the new truck like a week and a half ago, so we haven't had any seat time with it,

01:10so it was a little bit of an up in the air, but, yeah, very happy to get it.

01:14In the bike's 2025 favourite Callum Norton snatched prologue victory.

01:18I felt like I didn't make too many mistakes, but as soon as you switch off and think it's a good lap,

01:23there's always something out here that's going to catch you out.

01:25The win gives Callum an advantage tomorrow as the first bike to set off from Alice Springs.

01:30Just behind me here is where 500 high-speed desert machines will set off tomorrow.

01:36They'll thunder down the track to Apechula, a remote community 223km south of here.

01:42And while today's results in the prologue give some clues about who's next in line for desert royalty,

01:47the track to Fink can notoriously serve up all sorts of surprises.

01:52Thanks for having me.

02:07Now, I'm gonna guess the 게ers clear of the whole cycle I

02:15got about two little blocks.