Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

mechanicalissuein 2017 I knewI
hadtocomebackandhaveanother
shotatthetitle.”

DESERTDOMINATION
Davidhasriddena fewbrandsover
theyearsbutwhenhestartedtaking
racingseriouslyhe’sonlybeenon
two;HondaandKTM,themost
dominantmanufacturersinthe
historyofFinke.
“I joinedKTMin 2007 whenI was
17.CollinRossandBradWilliscroft
werecominguptoFinkea lotpre-
runningandracingDeepWell.During
thattime,I gottoknowthempretty
well.I wasracinga Hondaandthey
gavemetheopportunitytoracethe
KTM 250 four-stroke.
“ThoseoldKTMswerevery
differenttowhatI wasusedtoriding
buttheyweresofastandthat’swhat
youneedinthedesert,especially
Finke.Their250Fwasa lotquicker
thantheHonda250FI wasriding.”
DaviddidwellontheKTM,winning
a fewlocalmotocrosseventsand

postingstrongresultsat Finke.Aftera

yearoffin2010,MichaelVroomat

DesertEdgeMotorcyclessignedhimin

2011 torideHonda.

HestayedwithHondauntilthe 2015

event,afterwhichhewastappedon

theshoulderbytheladsat KTM.“It

wasa hugeconfidenceboostertobe

offereda rideontheKTMDesert

RacingTeam.I knewGrabbo[Ben

Grabham]reallywellbythatpointand

Tye[Symonds]wasontheteamtoo,I

knewhimwellfromovertheyears.

“BeingteammateswithToby

pushedmetobefaster.EveryyearI

wouldfindtimealongthetrack,

tryingtobeathispace,buthealways

managedtofinda wayofputting

minutesbackon,”Davidlaughed.“It

wasa gameofcatandmouse.Butit

wasdefinitelygoodhavingToby

aroundbecauseit forcedmetolook

forwaystotryandbeathim.”

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CONFIDENTIAL | DAVID WALSH

“Being teammates with Toby pushed me

to be faster. Every year I would find time

along the track, trying to beat his pace”

Winning

Formula

The pieces are all there for David

to win Finke, it’s just a matter of

putting them all together on race

day. He’s on the most winning

team of the past 10 years and

knows the track better than

anyone. What’s it going to take for

the local hero to claim the win?

“I’ve been working on my

technical ability on the bike,

improving my skill level rather

than just fitness because although

it’s a flat-out high-speed event it

requires a lot of technical ability. I

know I can win, I just need to

make it happen.”

The Tatts Finke Desert Race

runs from 7 to 10 June, and we

reckon David Walsh is going to be

the bloke to watch!

Walsh’s Honda expired on day two in 2015

He was almost 5min back from Pricey on day one

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