An Alice Springs hometown hero is gunning to make it four bike titles in a row as he gears up for this weekend’s Finke Desert Race.
The bike King of the Desert David Walsh celebrates his emotional and overwhelming victory.
Walsh first won in 2019 and backed up the victory in 2021 when the 2020 race was cancelled due to the Covid outbreak.
In 2022 Walsh clocked a record-breaking time finishing three minutes ahead of major rivals Jacob Smith and Jack Simpson on Day 1.
The KTM rider backed up on Day 2 to finish with an overall time of 3h35m45s beating the previous record of Toby Price, the reigning King of the Desert in the car race.
“Winning last year was quite incredible, it was dream come true for me,” Walsh said.
“I was quite lucky to be at the pointy end and being able to finish off as I did and make it three titles.”
He’s now geared up and ready to take on the desert once again and with some recent wet weather in the Red Centre he knows it will be different.
David Walsh wins the bike category of Finke Desert Race 2022. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson
Smith is expected to pose a challenge again while Walsh’s cousin Liam Walsh is also racing well in 2023.
And while Walsh beat the previous record by 11 minutes in 2022, he stayed coy on the possibility of doing it again.
“Preparations have been going really good, bikes are going well, the team is going well so we’re all set and ready to go,” he said.
“There’s many things that have to fall in your favour to win at Finke with the desert being half the battle.
“But it’s about making sure everything falls into place and you’ve done all the hard work before you get out there.
“This year will be a bit different because of recent rain, but the field will be strong with some guys returning from last year while my cousin is going strong.
“I’m not out here to break any records, I’m just focused on what I need to do to try and win the event, and if records come that’s awesome.”
David Walsh finishes first in the bike category of Finke Desert Race 2022. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson
As an Alice Springs local Walsh knows better than most what the race means for the region.
And while tourism is down on previous years Walsh has already seen plenty of people come to town for the all-important race.
“It means everything for this town, it’s just like Christmas for us here,” Walsh said.
“It’s important the event continues and people keep coming and checking it out.
“All my mates have been packing their camping gear and getting down for the week and everyone getting pretty excited to get out on the track.”