Australian_Trailrider_2016_02_03

HEADING TOWARDS

HEAT

We got off the plane in Alice Springs

to be met with a sweet summer day

that sat steady on 40 degrees. I was

on the same fl ight as team riders

Josh Green and Beau Ralston —

we’re all from the Newcastle/Hunter

Valley region — and I assumed they

would meet up with the team truck

and spend some time debriefi ng

or working on the bike, or just kill

some time before they started

testing the next day.

AJ Roberts had driven the truck

from Queensland along with team

mechanic Brandon Frail, and they

weren’t there to muck around. As I

made my way to my accommodation,

which featured an air-conditioner

operating within an inch of its life

and smelled like someone had

installed a dead gopher as a fi lter,

I got a call from AJ. “We’re heading

down the track now. Can you come

so we can use your car?” “Now?”

I asked. “Yeah, that’s what we’re

here for.”

So within minutes of getting off

the plane the boys had got suited-up

and we were heading down the track

in the blistering heat to start the

fi rst day of testing for the 2016 Finke

Desert Race.

FEATURE:
FINKE TESTING THE WR450F

Imagine if the Anaheim Supercross

whoop section took a right turn, let

alone ran for kilometre after kilometre

under a sun determined to cook all

living things