Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

CONFIDENTIAL | DAVID WALSH

Walsh holeshots Long in 2017, who finished second

With Price an unlikely starter, he might finally win

well! I have a suspicion it’s going to be

another girl because apparently that’s

all I’m good for!”

Having a family hasn’t changed

David’s approach to racing but it has

added another element into the mix. He

admits there’s definitely added pressure

to avoid injury. “My wife isn’t the

biggest fan of racing just because of the

inherent dangers. She can’t wait for me

to hang up the boots but, until I do, her

and the girls will support me all the

way. I still have the passion, I still enjoy

racing and I am achieving good results.”

TRAINING

It’s not only the dangers involved with

racing at 170kmh across the desert, it’s

the time spent preparing for Finke that

can have a rider second guessing their

choices. Nowadays if you want to race

Finke properly, not just to finish but to

go for the win, you need to spend

almost half the year training, testing

and preparing.

“Having a young family, it is difficult

because I spend so much time away

training, you’re not at home as much as

you’d like. Some times when I’m

having a bad day, I can’t help but

question why I’m doing this because

it’s pretty tough. Not just the event but

the time away from the family. There’s

six months of the year where it’s

completely flat out between working

full-time, training and all the prep

work involved with racing Finke.”

Next time you see an Instagram video

of a full-time motocross racer preaching

about dedication because he goes to the

gym four times a week, think of David.

He’s up at 4am training at the gym

before a full day on the tools. After

eight to 10 hours at work he gets home,

puts the kids to bed then he’s off on the

mountain bike with a head torch for a

night ride. That’s his life for months

leading up to Finke. Then there’s

pre-running, the most time-consuming

part for the race.

“Pre-running sessions are about a

week long and we’ll do four of them in

the lead up to the race. We’ll ride to

Finke and back in a day for five days in

a row, which is close to 25 hours on the

bike riding at race pace. But if you want

to win, you need to put in those hours.”

Born and raised in Alice, David has a

clear advantage over his interstate

rivals. Most competitors have

nightmares about the infamous Finke

whoops that seem to get bigger as stories

get older, but not David, he loves them,

he is one in a few who does and a little

bit nuts. It’s one part of what makes him

such a force when the June long

weekend comes around. Where others

cramp up at the thought of them, David

welcomes whoops with open arms and

a wide-open throttle.

“In the whoops I definitely feel the

most comfortable. I really enjoy the

racing once we get to the 140km mark

and whoops get bigger. Anywhere on

the track where there’s plenty of them I

feel like I can hold my own. It’s crazy to

say but I look forward to them, which is

uncommon! It’s great because most

other people are buggered and I’m just

getting started.”

Despite his raw speed, local

knowledge and love for sand whoops,

that first win still escapes him. “Always

the bridesmaid, never the bride.” David

jokingly says about his Finke results.

In 2011 riding for Honda, David

came out and won the 250F class and

finished 11th Outright. The next year

he stepped up to the 450s and finished

second overall, nine minutes behind

Toby Price. Unfortunately, in 2013 a

crash during the prologue dislocated

his shoulder and collarbone, forcing

him to miss the race but the next year

he bounced back to finish second to

Price, again.

In 2015, David’s last year on a Honda,

his bike expired while running second

on the return leg to Alice. After making

the switch to KTM in 2016, he found

the podium again behind teammates

Price and Tye Simmonds.

The following year was a heart-

breaker. After posting a blistering time

of 1hr 58min to lead into Finke, his

KTM expired 10km into the return leg.

Last year he had another shot at the win

but came up 10-minutes short of Price.

Most full-time carpenters with a

family would be happy with those

results but finishing on the podium so

many times and being denied the win

in 2017, has just made Walsh even

more determined.

“That day in 2017, when I was

leading and my bike stopped, was one

of the toughest of my racing career. I

still haven’t won Finke and growing up

watching it since I was a kid, all I’ve

wanted to do is win. So after the

90 | JUNE 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au