KTM Australia press release:

KTM Australia will be aiming to build a brand-new King of the Desert when it shoots for a fourth straight win at this weekend’s Tatts Finke Desert Race, which explodes into life in the dead heart of Australia on Sunday and Monday.

The annual 480-kilometre, two-day journey from the town of Alice Springs south to Finke and back is a white-knuckle, adrenaline-fuelled blast that pushes both man and machine to breaking point.

KTM has been the undisputed King of Australia’s fastest desert race in recent years, amassing eight wins in nine years, and the brand’s unique combination of proven reliability and competitive passion is reflected clearly in this year’s entry list, which is again dominated by orange machines.

Current Finke Champion Toby Price, who suffered a badly broken leg while attempting to defend his Dakar Rally crown in January, has declared his leg unfit for the extreme demands of Finke, and will be forced to leave his quest for a record sixth Finke win until next year.

Price has instead channelled his copious energies into aiding his KTM Factory Desert Racing Teammates with the setup of the brand new 2017 KTM 500 EXC-F, as well as assembling an assault on the Extreme 2WD and Overall car categories.

The guarantee of a new motorcycle category outright winner has all the top riders’ ears pricked, and the KTM Desert Racing Team relishes the contest.

With 2015 and 2016 Vice Champion Tye Simmonds also stepping down from the event, KTM’s David Walsh becomes the highest placed returning rider, and the Alice Springs local considers he is better prepared than ever.

The 27-year-old carpenter finished third in 2016 and he hopes to be the first Territorian in 11 years to win the region’s most important dirt bike event.

Then again, so does his new KTM Desert Racing teammate, Luke Hayes, who is no stranger to Finke. He literally lives on the track, at Deep Well Station, finished sixth outright last year as the first privateer home, and has never missed a Finke in one capacity or another.

Originally included as a KTM support rider, the 22-year-old, primary school assistant for indigenous students will now step up to the KTM 500 EXC-F vacated by Toby Price, and his ‘primary’ goal is to crack the top five, or better yet – a top-three.

AORC E1 champion and last year’s Finke 250cc four-stroke winner, Jack Simpson has just this afternoon withdrawn from Finke 2017, following injuries suffered in a 140kph + step-off on Monday morning.

The irrepressible Victorian suffered a heavy concussion, two cracked ribs, a lacerated lung and disrupted vertebra, and this week spent two nights in hospital.

In a tribute to both his toughness and his unwavering optimism, Simpson was today champing at the bit to get both his KTM 500 EXC-F and its throttle pointed south, however medical advice convinced him it would be much wiser to fight another day.

For more information on KTM motorcycles visit www.ktm.com.au or www.facebook.com/KTMAustralia.

Glenn Kearney KTM Desert Racing Team Manager – “We couldn’t be any better prepared than we are. We’ve made a huge effort, especially our mechanics Mick Carusi and Harry Norton. It’s hard to explain how much time they’ve put in. Finke is like preparing for a six-day! The amount of effort that goes in, and how hard this race is on bikes and bodies is just staggering. It’s pretty cool. Apart from all the KTM staff out here, Colin Ross from North Star Pastoral – our major sponsor – will be hands on in the race, manning one of the fuel stops with Jeff (Leisk). When the General Manager is out there putting fuel in the race bikes with the major sponsor, you know you’re on a team that’s passionate. David Walsh is looking really good and did pretty impressive times in the race simulation. He’s done more preparation than ever and he knows the track well, so hopefully things will go smoothly for him. We had Toby until two weeks ago but at the final pre-run he realised his leg just isn’t healed enough, and he wasn’t prepared to commit unless he could win for us, which is pretty admirable. We’ve been supporting Luke Hayes through pre-running and now he’ll step up to Toby’s bike – which he’s over the moon about. He’s a young local feller and a big strong strapping lad who I think will take the ball and run with it. He’s put in the effort, and he looks plenty impressive from the chopper, with the way he can ride the whoops.It’s unfortunate that young Jack has had to withdraw following his crash on Monday. We all put so much time and effort building for this and this was just a shakedown week. However, accidents happen. Toby was really quite helpful in the setup with the new bikes. He got to ride the new bike with its different chassis and engine, and he was over the moon with the horsepower, but he knew that the chassis could benefit from one or two setting changes, since the last one had had five or six years development under it. So, we made some pretty big gains with his input.”

David Walsh – “This has probably been the best prep that I’ve ever had in terms of hours on the bike and help from the team. Being first to Prologue will be good, and hopefully I can get on one of the first two grids to start Day one. I feel really confident with the bike, the setup and the work I’ve put in, but I’m not focussing on coming first. I just know that if I put in the work down the track that I’ll have a very good shot at it, so I’m just trying to focus on what I need to do. Gotta’ beat the desert before anything else! The boys have really worked tirelessly on developing the new model, and Stephen Greenfield from GDR has got it handling amazing and the motor is unbreakable, so it’s pretty much the best machine to be on out here. I’m really happy to be out here and a part of the team.”

Luke Hayes – “For me it’s a real honour to be a part of the KTM Desert team, being an Alice Springs lad who idolised Finke legends growing up, it’s a bit of a dream come true. And after thinking that I was going to be riding the stocker all year and now to be given Toby’s bike – it’s unfortunate for him but I appreciate the opportunity. I’m glad the team believed in me enough to provide me with the bike. To be honest, my goal is just to improve on last year’s sixth place and just have a good clean run. For me to get into the top five or even on the podium would be a dream come true. David and I have been training really hard this year to be the best we can. We’ve done a fair bit of work developing the new bike, so now it’s really good and I’m fitter than I have been! I think I’ve got a bit of street cred with the kids I work with at school now, too. David and I took our bikes in a couple of days ago and did a talk with them, and they were definitely pretty stoked to see a regular face that they see every day, rock up with the KTM jacket and the flash bike and stuff. They thought it was pretty neat!”

Jack Simpson – “I’m bummed not to race, but it doesn’t make sense to risk major or long term damage. I think my crash came because I was too at ease in my mind – feeling a little bit bulletproof, and next thing, Bang! The Finke track’s got you! Now I know. You’ve got to be switched on 110% the whole time, up and back. We were running in the race bikes and after 110 kays they said you can wind them on and push them because the suspension was really tight. I was sitting on about 95% trying to break this bike in, and I came over a crest and must have hit a square edge tapped out in fifth. She’s kicked left and right and I’ve fought it, but it must have dropped into a whoop and it sent me like a full 180 backwards and it felt like I was in the air for 5 seconds. I remember watching the sky then going ‘whack’ on the ground. I knew I was alright, but it was hard to breathe. Until the crash things had been great. I’ve done a lot of kays pre-running and every time we were at 100%. The KTM boys are known to work hardest out of anyone with pre-running, and that’s why the orange bikes are always up the front. We bring everything to the table.”

Toby Price – “I’m really disappointed that I won’t be racing a bike out here, and if I could come up with the miracle cure to make my leg strong enough I’d happily put everything else aside. Hopefully I’ve made the smart choice to preserve myself for Dakar, and to be back here next year and try to get that number one plate back. Hopefully the decision will bring good things later on. It was so hard to pull out – it nearly felt like a retirement announcement. I know I’ve done it at less than 100% here before, but I’m further back this time, and I don’t want to waste people’s time. The truck I’ll be racing is the latest-built truck from the states, and we’ve got a strong motor in it that’s going to get us to the finish line. As long as nothing goes wrong, we’ve definitely got a fast-enough truck. So we’ll see how we do.”