“I’d like it to be me” – What better occasion than the King’s Birthday to be crowned King of the Desert for a record sixth year in succession?
In reviewing the published entry list for the 2025 Finke, it appears the main threat to your sixth successive victory is your STE Racing teammate – and cousin – Liam Walsh.
Our other teammate, Callum Norton, might be slack with his entry paperwork but he’s definitely a threat. In fact, he’s currently here in Alice pre-running the course with me and Liam, plus Anthony Giles from Choice Suspension. You could throw a groundsheet over the three of us, our practice times are that close. Corey Hammond is also due for a podium.
With a fifth placing in his rookie year, followed by a fifth gear get-off last year, Liam has learned the hard way what not to do and, at only 24, is undoubtedly a future winner. But is he ready to overcome your experience of more than a dozen podiums, including five consecutive victories?
Certainly I’ve been competing at Finke since Liam was in short pants, though over the past three years we’ve ridden way more than 15,000km pre-running the course (the equivalent of riding to Apatula (Finke) and back almost 40 times) swapping suspension notes and discussing corner lines. So Liam lacks nothing in the way of track experience. Nor does Callum, who finished second last year, then went on to win the Hattah Desert Race.
You’ve worked on development of the KTM 500 EXC-F with Callum and Liam since its introduction in 2019. Ash Scarlett from Choice Suspension tells us that, due to his motocross background, Liam prefers a stiffer front fork and that, because your style is to hang off the back of the bike, you like the rear spring one click higher. Other than that, are all three STM Racing bikes pretty much identical?
KTM provide each of us a bike for practice and a new bike for the race, so we just bolt in our suspension preferences and set our handlebar adjustments and we’re ready to race. All we have to do on race day is double check the static sag and tyre pressures.
Finke is the fastest off-road race on the planet, averaging in excess of 125km/h. It may be a case of ‘the older we get the faster we were’, but four-time Finke champion Stephen Greenfield claimed he could stretch his Honda CR500
two-stroke to 185km/h. What top speeds are achievable 20 years later?
Earlier this year, we had a speed gun out for the first time, which indicated 186km/h, and I can tell you that you have to leave your brain at home to skim close to the trees at that pace. However, the overall race times since Greeny’s days indicate that traction and acceleration are more critical than top speed.
You set a record time for the run down to Apatula in 2021 when the return was red-flagged due to a spectator fatality. Then in 2022 you set the outright race record. Since then the race times have been slower. Any predictions about track conditions this year?
Back in 2020, the race wasn’t held due to Covid and the organising committee had the track graded, levelling out some of the worst corrugations. Since then the track has reverted to its usual rough-as-guts condition, so we expect the 2025 race times to be slower again by maybe a minute or more.
We notice in the countless videos of the event that neither you nor Liam wear a neck brace. Surely that’s an unnecessary risk?
Alpinestar, one of our sponsors, provides us with Tech-Air inflatable jackets which I’ve found, by experience, to provide better protection, particularly around the shoulders, plus more manoeuvrability.
Last December, together with your cousin Liam, Ben Grabham and Jacob Smith, you took a shot at Mexico’s Baja 1000, finishing fifth; a terrific result. What are the chances of a return to this event?
We only had three days riding preparation and I never even got to sight the section I rode, but after our experience in 2024 I believe we could improve and would love to go back with the same team. December is a long way off, after Hattah in July and the Don River Dash in September. Right now, Finke is our priority.
With you competing in such a hazardous sport, it must be highly stressful for your wife Kate and your family. Not just the event itself, but the endless days pre-running the course. Bar a single mechanical DNF in the actual race, you’ve enjoyed a remarkable Finke career. It must be tempting to quit while you’re at the top.
I’ve visited the intensive care unit twice, first back in 2013, then only six weeks before my first Finke win in 2019. I’ll be turning 36 later this year and I know I’m unlikely to get any faster. One way or another I’ll leave that decision until after June 9. It’s only a short reign, but someone has to be the only Finke winner to be crowned King of the Desert on the King’s Birthday weekend. I’d like it to be me.
