94 | JUNE 2017 http://www.adbmag.com.auTherestofthetimewasspent
honouringballadeerTedEgan’s
anthemWe’ve Got Some Bloody Good
Drinkers in the Northern Territory.
Asthefirstwinner,GeoffCurtis,
toldADBfounderGeoffEldridgeafew
yearslater:“Itwasablast,wegot
pissed,sleptwherewefell,thenall
rode back with splitting headaches.”
Thegoodnewsspreadquickly,and
it took no time at all for interstate
riderstomakethepilgrimage.Butit
wasatoughaskandittooknoless
than ISDE gold-medallist Phil Lovett
toovercomethelocaltalent;butonly
withalittleluck.
LocalladRobHonzaheldatwo-
minute lead when his chain snapped
withjust5kmtogo.Suchwastheir
leadthatLovettmadeafutileattempt
to tow Honza home with his jacket but
couldn’t,sohewentonalonetowin
beforereturningwitharopetotow
Honzahomeinfourth.
Lovett backed up the following year
andin1983lookedgoodforthe
hat-trick. However, having been
beatenbythedesertin1980,
Australia’sforemostMXexponent,
StephenGallreturnedandtookthe
win.Buthewasundersuchpressure
from Lovett and Don Farrell that he
set a race record that held for 12 years.
What had started only a decade
earlier as a local derby was now a
high-pressure, long-distance
motocross, followed by an overnight
rebuild and an even faster trip back
the next day. And there was definitely
no bibulous celebration until the
Queen had settled in with the corgis.RIVALRY
The intense rivalry between the
Territorians and the rest of the world
continued but the organisers, the
Outback Desert Racing Club, were
stretched for sponsorship and the
event was in danger of folding until
Gary King, the Alice Springs Honda
dealer and proprietor of Taps, Tubs &
Tiles offered a massive cash incentive.
It may seem like small beer now but
at the time $10,000 was bigger than
the prize money for the Bathurst 1000.
And with the money came prestige
and the publicity. “I insisted the 10
grand should go to the winner,” King
recalls. “I figured that if you get the
guns in the rest will follow. And that’s
exactly what happened. I remember
some people saying that riders should“I insisted the 10 grand
should go to the winner ”
1 3
2
PREVIEW I FINKE DESERT RACE
Major
league
ADB founder Geoff Eldridge rolled up to the
tenth Finke and immediately wondered why
he’d entered; telling anyone who’d listen,
“this is way out of my league”. Not only had
Stephen Gall and Glenn Bell entered but the
line up included Aussie enduro champs Dave
Rose and Steve Phillips, previous winners
Geoff Curtis, Peter Stayt and Phil Lovett plus
the current MX hotshot, Jeff Leisk; who
turned up with a four-man support crew. At
least our Geoff had a proper job to fall back
on. Here’s his report from 1985:
“The whole thing was built up to such a
fever pitch that even Geoff Curtis came out
of a four-year retirement to have a go but I
didn’t really take him seriously.
“At the shotgun blast Lovett was dead
last off the line into a cloud of dust so thick
you could carve it with a knife. The crowd of
5000 reached for their pencils to cross him
off. Peter Stayt romped straight into the
lead, so his chances went through the roof.
Gall, Leisk, Williams and Bell were off well
and so was... nah! Couldn’t be! Geoff Curtis?
Lucky, that’s all. At Deep Well it was Curtis in
the lead – end of the fast road section. Big
deal – so he’s got a fast bike – the others will
all pass him before the next checkpoint.
Rumbalara – Curtis first. Bundooma – Curtis,
Mt Squires – Curtis, The Ruins – Curtis! Hell’s
teeth – the boy can RIDE!
“Somewhere in this dust, Peter Stayt
copped a shower of rocks, one of which
smashed through his goggles and gave him
a bigger black eye than he’d received in a
whole year of being a nightclub bouncer in
Cairns. Leisk passed him and sat in second.
Gall had a massive crash in the very section
he’d been practising to death, then had to
stop to clean his goggles because his fuel
cap hadn’t been put back on properly. Glen
Bell bowled past merrily.
“But what of Lovett? For the first time
ever, Lovett must have had the fastest bike.
In the first 60km he passed 26 riders and
blasted through Deep Well in fourth. Then he
passed Stayt, then Leisk and, as he reached
the Finke River, passed Curtis. Just amazing.
“As for the rest of the thing it was a bit of
an anti-climax. Lovett reckoned he was
cruising at about 8/10ths on the first day
and that if anyone posed a threat he could
pour it on and get mobile again. He led all
the way back to Alice with Curtis hot on his
heels. The big one-two. Lovett always said
Curtis was the best rider he’d ever seen in
the desert. Except for himself.”