2009 Tattersall's Finke Desert Race

Round 2 - 2009 Australian Off Road Championships
Saturday 6th, Sunday 7th and Monday 8th June 2009
Commentary   -   Saturday   to   Monday

Times listed are Central Standard Time.  
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7:42am The first cars have started from the Finke end on their 226km run back to the Alice Springs finish arena.

The cars of Fellows, Coulthard, Robinson, Burrows, Robinson, Roe, Gartner and Rose have all started their return journey from Finke.

7:37am 52 of the 76 entries will start todays run from Finke to Alice Springs. We will endeavour to keep you up to date on their movements but will have more information when they get closer to Alice Springs and in radio coverage.

7:35am Danny Brown and George Apted (42) in the Owen Homes, ARB 4x4 Accessories Chenowth Millenium Buggy have been seeded into the today start order in position 13 after they had problems yesterday.

Colin Hunter and Margot Knowles (801) in the Goodyear, Extreme Motor Sports Jeep Grand Cherokee have also been seeded and will start in position 29 after they had fuel issues on their run to Finke.

Terry Poulsen and Mitchell Poulson (733) in the Commercial Doors and Hardware NT Nissan Patrol have been seeded in position 51 after failing to make it to Finke.

7:32am The Tasmanian entry of Scott Rockcliff (22) in the Rock Buggy made it to finke yesterday but was suffering with turbo problems. The crew endeavoured to fix the problem last night by bypassing the turbo but this was not successful and therefore Rockcliff will not be taking part in todays section.

7:29am Good morning and welcome to day 2's coverage of the 2009 Tattersall's Finke Desert Race.

The outright results have been updated from Day 1 and the start order for today's section which is 226 km from Finke back to Alice Springs have been added to the events page.

4:12pm

Sunday - Alice Springs to Finke, 226km

Final results for Saturdays racing have been updated as at 2:48pm.

3:25pm That's about all the happenings I have at the moment. Our pit reporter is still down at Finke so I'll keep updating if more information comes to hand.

Otherwise Section 2 starts at 7:30am tomorrow morning when those still competing will return to Alice Springs.

3:22pm The Goodyear, Extreme Motor Sports Jeep Grand Cherokee or Colin Hunter and Margot Knowles (801) was reported stopped about 15km short of Finke with fuel problems.

3:21pm Stuart and Jim Zlotkowski (811) in the Paintball Australia, Steelware, Subaru Brumby EJ20T limped home to Finke with their front right wheel pushed almost a foot back. They struggled in at 10km/hour after they hit a gully too hard.

3:18pm Peter Kozac and Paul Coci (572) in the Penrite Oils, Holden Ute made it to Finke and said "done it again, we got here, but the track gets rougher every year". The Two Tonner Racing team had an interesting trip to Alice Springs from Perth. Firstly they had trouble with the trailer and spent time repairing it, only to lock the keys in the F250. Quick thinking by the boys, well after an hour or so, they used the antenna off the race car to break into the tow vehicle. A great effort guys to get to Finke.

3:11pm Mark Gepp and Cezanne Ezard (431) in the Indervon Caltex, Nissan 620 Ute started last on the grid this morning after failing to take part in yesterdays prologue because of gear box issues. They have made it to Finke with no further problems.

3:09pm Shawn and Geoff Teagle (555) in the Teagle Excavations, Millicent Tyre Centre, K&S Fuels Ford Falcon Ute finished with the clutch slipping, but said that tip the dog enjoyed the ride.

3:08pm The all girls team of Lucinda and Gemma Owen (244) in the Caltex Indervon, Southern Cross Buggy finised and the girls said Wha hoooo.., but gee it was rough.

3:06pm John Williamson and Trevor Taylor (230) in the Williamson Properties & Equipment, Mt Hotham Ski Resort Southern Cross Super 1650 stopped twice on the track when their steering wheel came off. They also finished at Finke with a broken tie rod end.

3:02pm Hayden Bentley and Grant Connelly (18) in the Bentley’s Cabin Park Jimco 2000 Series Buggy have broken a front arm and are bring the Jimco back to Alice Springs and will take no further part in the event.

3:01pm Clayton Chapman and Adam McGuire (703) in the Chapmans Auto Repairs, Mitsubishi Triton Ute did not make it to Finke and were stopped about the 180km mark with timing belt problems.

2:59pm Robert Chapman and Ross Challacombe (803) in the Chapmans Auto Repairs, Mitsubishi Pajero Wagon said on arriving at Finke "you don't have to be crazy to do this, but it helps".

2:59pm Geoff Pickering and Mark Henderson (701) in the Faulken Tyres, Mitsubishi NP Pajero had a huge smile when they finised and said they were glad to be there.

2:52pm Craig Meekings and Tracey Meekings (117) in the Alice Springs Brake & Clutch Buggy finished the days run with no problems with the buggy. Criag, the driver, had trouble seeing in the later stages of the race with his eyes filled with dust.

2:43pm Paul and Mark-Paul Grant (405) in the Number One Engineering Ford Ranger broke a sway bar about 40km from the finish. They also lost the spare tyre and jack somewhere along the 220 plus km track however, they reccon they passed at least 15 cars. They've finished 29th outright and 7th in class. A great effort considering the quality of the Extreme 2WD class here this weekend.

2:40pm Another father and son team, Sam and Peter Barnes (371) in their Jaycar, Phillips Foote Restaurant Furner Burner Mark 3 Buggy said they had an unreal run to Finke and can't wait for the race back tomorrow.

2:37pm Sandy Bowman and Daniel Hardman (833) in the Aus 4WD, Eastern Sleepers Nissan Patrol Ute are looking to back up their recent Extreme 4WD class win at Hyden with a good finish here. They're the first in class on the road to finish and ended up 28th outright on corrected time and first in class. They struggled with a broken exhaust but are nearly 20 minutes infront of the next Extreme 4WD.

2:29pm I have an addition to the Matthew and Mathew Martin (121) comments (I had trouble reading my notes). Anyways, they also got held up on the track when they had to stop and one of the Matts had to answer the call of mother nature. We don't know which Matthew it was, but we report all the news.

2:27pm The 202 entry of Peter Stevenson and Steve Barrington (202) in the Mickey Thompson Tyres Hunter Rivmasta Super 1650 buggy finished at Finke 26th on the road. They have been bumped back to 27th on corrected time. Stevo said that the track was hard work. They had a big off and ran down into the river but eventually made it to Finke.

2:23pm Our pit reporter has been talking to Andrew Pinto (5) and said that his day is a whole story in itself and promises to write something up on his return to Alice Springs this tonight. In a nutshell Andrew and Jason in the G.G.S Glass and Aluminium Jimco rolled and after some fixing continued down the track but suffered with Clutch problems the rest of the way to Finke.


2:21pm Brad Gallard and Scott Modistach (401) in the Hi Tec Oils, Wicked Quick Clothing Geiser Bros Trophy Truck strucka fuel pressure problems about the 15km mark and struggled with the Extreme 2WD Geiser truck all the 260 plus km to Finke. They were extremely happy to get there and hope to fix the problem this afternoon. While they arrived 24th on the road they have been moved back to 30th on corrected time. They will be one to watch tomorrow if they get the car fixed as they storm through the field.

2:19pm The father and son team of Matthew and Mathew Martin (121) in the Revolution Smash Repairs, Wurth Australia Martin Racing from Sydney arrived at Finke 23rd on the road and maintained 23rd in the outright order. The Matts said that the track was realy rough and they were more than happy to arrive in Finke.


2:15pm The The Off Road Shop Razorback Buggy of James Madden and Matthew Morgan made it to Finke on two cylinders and a broken exhaust. They've got a long afternoon ahead of them but hope to front at the start line tomorrow.

2:13pm Nev, Michael and Hayley Taylor (6) in the Rockstar Energy Drink, Jimco Buggy said they struggled to get to Finke. Nothing was wrong with the Jimco, just that the track was hard work. Still a fine effort to get the Jimco back on its feet after the massive rollover at Hyden.

2:12pm Chris and Matt Western (462) in the Mickey Thompson Tires, Off Road Rush, Chevy Truck crossed the finish line in Finke and said "loved it, bring in on"....

2:02pm Brett Taylor and Damien Smart (31) in the Bob Baldock Aceco Buggy arrived in Finke 15th on the road and moved up to 14th on corrected time. They had trouble with the rear suspension being too soft. They will fix overnight and hope for a better run back to Alice Springs tomorrow.

1:55pm In true Gartner speedway form, Greg and navigator Jamie Jennings (410) in their Craig Carrison Race Engines, Ford 2004 F150 made it to Finke 6th on the road but missing all the rear panels. Greg has been pushed back to 7th place on corrected time with fellow Extreme 2WD competitors Geoff and Liz Row (409)in the Uniflex Geiser Truck finishing 10th on the road but beating Gartner by over a minute on corrected time to take first in class and 6th outright.

12:21pm There will be a break in commentary for about an hour. I'm going to move from the track back into town. The finish control closed at 12:12 so no more cars should finish.

I still have lots of tid bids to tell you all so please check back in an hour or so.

12:18pm Jason Adami and Danny Auricht (9) in the Sporties Café & Restaurant, Autocraft Magnum Pro Truggy had problems with their diff at about the 30km mark. Jason is well know to offroaders as the chef who travells with the Fellow/Kittle team. Jason has recently navigators for Fellows and has now hopped into his own buggy. He's now down at the Finke end getting ready to cook dinner.

12:12pm More cars have finished:

230, 244, 555, 431, 364, 572, 576, 811, 571, 516, 117, 168, 733

11:32am As I said earlier, Murray has gone to Finke with a sat phone. Following are a few comments, tales of wowes etc reported back from the Finke end.

11:31am The bikes have just started their run down to Finke, now back to the cars....

11:31am I have just updated the results. Now as at 11:19. Available via our events page.

11:27am We've had a few people ask whether we're doing live Rusty this weekend. I'm sorry to say that we're not. Rusty and Jodie tried the hardest to secure sponsorship to get here but unforunately nothing came through. We will all be working hard to get them to the Sunraysia 500, but rest assured they will definately be streaming live Rusty from Goondiwindi in October.

11:22am Media release from the organisers now available on the news page.

11:17am More cars finished at Finke:

202, 833, 371, 57, 405, 223, 117, 807, 5, 441, 701, 803

We have quote etc from quite a few of the competitors received via the sat phone. I'll be adding these

11:15am I have added the updated results to our events page if case you are having trouble accessing the Finke web site.

11:02am Shannon and Ian Rentsch (1) have made it to Finke. They broke a throttle cable 20km from the start, fixed and then got a flat 20km from the finish.

10:26am More updates from our sat phone at Finke. The following cars have finished:

404, 138, 31, 22, 462, 420, 192, 6, 48, 81, 121, 401, 102

10:21am Matt and Sam Hanson (7), Peter Taylor and Troy Annesley (77) and Steven Phillips and Corey Field (196) all rolled at the 32km sand jump. All crews are OK.

10:16am Danny Brown and George Apted (42) in the Owen Homes, ARB 4x4 Accessories Chenowth Millenium Buggy have had problems with their oil pump and resulted in a siezed engine.

9:56am The following cars have now made it to Finke:

11, 422, 101, 409, 125

9:54am Chris Coulthard and Rob Hawker (88) in the Autosparky.com, Rhemac Motors Jimco 2000 Series Buggy have put in a blinder of a section to put their bugging into second place on corrected time. David Fellows and Andrew Kittle (2) in the Toyota Peter Kittle Motor Company, Jimco 2000 Series Buggy were first on the road and first on corrected time.

9:51am Shannon and Ian Rentsch (1) have made it through Mt Squires but are missing from there.

Matt and Sam Hanson (7) have been reported as rolled near the 30km mark, same place as Buddy and Kerry Crowe (4). All crews are OK.

9:49am OK lots of news to come. Please remember that this is gathered via radio, pit reports and pit crews.

The following cars have made it to Finke:

David Fellows and Andrew Kittle (2)
Chris Coulthard and Rob Hawker (88)
Mark Burrows and Colin Hodge (21)
Travis Robinson and Paul Currie (13)
Beau Robinson and Roy Lukies (85)
Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings (410)

9:24am The first car to Finke is David Fellows and Andrew Kittle (2) in the Toyota Peter Kittle Motor Company, Jimco 2000 Series Buggy.

9:18am The radio has gone quiet for now. Not sure if it's a distance issue or everyone is travelling event free !!

8:58am David Fellows and Andrew Kittle (2) in the Toyota Peter Kittle Motor Company, Jimco 2000 Series Buggy has been reported as the first car through the Mt Squires checkpoint at 8:57.10

8:58am The following cars have been reported as going through Bundooma: 42, 410 and 85.

It has also just been reported that the 42 car of Danny Brown and George Apted is now stopped a few kilometres past Bundooma. Not a great weekend for Danny. Our pit reported spoke to Danny yesterday about his prologue run. He said that he missed a gear and went from 2-5. The thought something was wrong with the Chenowth but kept going. Next corner when he changed down gears the car took off and all was well. He's quoted as saying "I ran out of talent".

8:53am Results are being updated on the Finke Desert Race web site, www.finkedesertrace.com.au. Scroll down the results page to Cars Day 1 Progress report.

8:48am The following cars are reported as going through the second fuel dump, 84, 11, 422, 101, 22

8:46am Richard Fekkes and Garry Myers (76) in the No. 1 Engineering R+G Wolf Buggy are reported out of todays race for reasons unknown.

8:45am Buddy and Kerry Crowe (4) have reported that they are stopped about the 50km mark.

8:44am Jason Adami and Danny Auricht (9) in the Sporties Café & Restaurant, Autocraft Magnum Pro Truggy have contacted recovery and said he's out about the 30km mark.

8:43am Sad news to hand for Brad Prout (3) and the Red Devil Energy Drink Unicap racing team with the new Jimco catching fire somewhere after the Rodinga checkpoint.

8:40am Eric Phillips and Gary Friend (96) have been reported out of todays race with engine problems. They are going to head to Finke and try to fix overnight.

8:39am Recovery have asked for the crew of Wayne and Matthew Attard (448). They need recovering about the 40km mark.

8:28am Brad Prout (3) is reported stopped on the side of the track.

8:23am Its been reported that cars 3, 2 and 1 have been through Rodinga at around 8:15am. Unfortunately I cannot tell you in which order.

8:19am From here on in I'll be relying on radio communications from recovery to keep you up to date. Due to the extreme distace between the start area and Finke, my radio is struggling, but we'll see how we go.

8:14am Larry Zaglas and Travis Bell (576) and Mark Gepp and Cezanne Ezard (431) in the Indervon Caltex, Nissan 620 Ute are the last cars to start the 2009 Tattersall's Finke Desert Race.

8:13am Simon Brown and Timothy Wadlow (309) in the Polaris Ranger RZR and
Grant Ballantine and Richard Hawkins (384) in the Cummins, The Broken Spoke, Scorpion Buggy are off to Finke.

8:13am Terry Poulsen and Mitchell Poulson (733) in the Commercial Doors and Hardware NT, Nissan Patrol and Michael and Michael Rieck (571) in the Max Cranes and Equipment Hire – Port Augusta, Mitsubishi L200 Ute have started.

8:12am Jared Melville and Brendan Winter (291) in the Rivmaster Buggy
Lucinda Owen and Gemma Owen (244) in the Caltex Indervon, Southern Cross Buggy are off and away.

Ross Bohlin and Michael Nicholson (523) in the SCF Constructions, Ford Ranger and Greg McArthur and Marie & Jessica McArthur (516) in the Corporate Design Floors NT, Ford Falcon Ute are also on their way to Finnke.

8:11am Darren Greening and Matthew Sexton (168) in the Axel’s Mechanics Buggy and Colin Hyde and Sharon Hyde (364) in the 8HA, Phil Brand Mobile Service, Southern Cross MK3 are on their way to Finke.

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