Australian off-road racing legend Toby Price has notched up his ninth victory in the 2023 Finke Desert Race – and his third on four wheels – as the Ford Ranger Raptor won the showroom class in its local debut.
Australian off-road racing legend Toby Price has notched up his ninth win in the Finke Desert Race – driving a V8-powered US ‘Trophy Truck’ in the 2023 event – though fell just 0.4 seconds short of his record time set last year in the 446km two-day enduro.
It was Price’s third victory on four wheels in the off-road race between Alice Springs and Finke, after winning six times in the motorcycle category.
Price’s total race time – which covers the 223km run from Alice Springs to Finke on Sunday, and the 223km return leg from Finke to Alice Springs on the same track on Monday – was 3 hours, 21 minutes and 46.6 seconds, just 0.4 seconds slower than his record time set in 2022.
Price – who had the support of a helicopter as his ‘eyes in the sky’ to warn him over the radio about any danger on the road ahead in the highly changeable conditions – finished more than 6 minutes clear of his nearest rival to take line honours in the 2023 Finke Desert Race.
In a media statement, Price said: “To get my first win was a dream come true, and then to say I have nine (now) is wild. We had a really good run, the truck did an amazing job, my crew did an amazing job – without them, I wouldn’t be up here.”
While the four-wheel category is dominated by buggies and about a dozen US ‘Trophy Trucks’ – with heavy-duty suspension and extra wheel articulation – the Ford Ranger Raptor pick-up won the showroom class (vehicles which more closely resemble those available to the public).
After surviving the gruelling Baja 1000 desert race late last year, the Ford Ranger Raptor won both legs in a class of three entrants in the 2023 Finke Desert Race. And it set a new record on the return run from Finke to Alice Springs on Monday with a time of 2 hours, 51 minutes and 18.711 seconds.
However, the Ford Ranger Raptor’s total time over both days – 5 hours, 56 minutes and 30.168 seconds – fell just shy of the class record set in 2009, following a mechanical issue on Day One.
The Ford Ranger Raptor stopped three times from Alice Springs to Finke on Day One to tighten a bolt in the rear suspension, losing a total of about 11 minutes over three stops.
But the father-and-son pairing of Brad Lovell (a US off-road racing legend) and his 16-year-old son Byam Lovell had a trouble-free run on the return leg from Finke to Alice Springs on Day Two, and shattered their previous day’s time – and set a new class record for the run home.
“Coming into this, I thought it was a fast rally race,” said Brad Lovell. “Seeing (the course) torn up now, this is like (Baja 1000). A lot of variation there and at the end … we definitely got on top of some (jumps) that we have not encountered before in the Ranger Raptor. But it took it. It’s a super tough truck.”
Despite the Ford Ranger Raptor starting near the rear of the field, Brad Lovell said visibility was not impacted by dust as much on Day Two and it was on Day One.
“Dust was no worries at all. They started us at one minute intervals down there today. So it was super easy,” said Brad Lovell. “Yesterday running out of Alice Springs, there was a lot of silt … just hanging in the trees. It was gnarly. At one point actually I misread the trees and went off course. That kind of helped me for the next turn.”
As for dealing with slower traffic, Brad Lovell said: “Today (the field) was a lot more strung out. I think there was some attrition yesterday, less cars on course and a bigger gap between us. We passed a handful of cars, but that was about it. Today felt a lot racier than yesterday, without the dust and mayhem and craziness.
“The Ranger Raptor pushed hard the whole time and definitely took everything we dished out. The (jumps) out there are getting huge. I don’t know how many suspension cycles there were per mile, but it’s got to be a record.”
Of the 127 vehicles that entered the four-wheeled category, only 79 completed both days – 26 entrants completed one of the two days, and 22 competitors did not finish either day.
The Ford Ranger Raptor’s two class rivals – a Toyota LandCruiser and Mitsubishi Triton (pictured above) – did not finish Day One from Alice Springs to Finke due to mechanical failures, however both completed Day Two.
The Ford Ranger Raptor recorded an average speed of about 72km/h on Day One and 78km/h on Day Two (versus 130km/h to 136km/h average speed for winner Toby Price in a V8-powered US ‘Trophy Truck’).
On Day One, some four-wheel competitors didn’t make it past the first checkpoint.
One unlucky crew crashed out 4km from the start line due to thick dust, as the cars at the rear of the field started at shorter intervals than those at the front.
At least two other cars – also caught out by the thick dust in the same spot – crashed into the stranded buggy but were able to continue.
Spectators took matters into their own hands and walked up the track to warn oncoming race cars of the drama around the next bend, before event officials could recover the crashed vehicle.
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