#finke2015

Finke 2015: Desert Finale

Blanketed and boxed in by dust, hounded by mechanical issues and battling against the desert, Team Toyo has punched through the darkness and roared home.

The coveted 40th anniversary race has been one of the toughest Finke’s ever, according to drivers coming into Alice Springs from the massive field.

The battle of Rentsch and Rhodes went in favour of sophomore King of the Desert Rentsch, illustrating the random cruelty of The Finke Desert Race.

Rhodes lead the field all weekend, an almost assured victory slipping through his fingers following a flat tyre after the Bundooma checkpoint, around kilometre 110.

Hayden Bentley lead Team Toyo in, taking second in the X2WD class and seventh outright in his first Finke with the Racer Engineering trophy truck.

“The run, home especially for the for the last 100 kilometres was a lot of fun, we found some clear air and got to push it,” said Bentley.

“Qualifying cost us positions but we couldn’t be happier with our run, no damage to the truck, no moments, no damage, no flats. Very happy for a brand new truck we haven’t driven; next qualifying will be a different story.”

Bentley Motorsports and the #418 TT will return in form at the Toyo Tires Riverland Enduro.

“We will regroup and clean up for Waikerie. There are lot of positives to take from it, we will build it on this performance and go get ‘em,” he said.

Matthew Kittle’s fourth attempt at finishing the legendary desert race race has been a success. Kittle pushed through the field following a rollover in qualifying to finish 12th outright and ninth in Pro-Class with a very fast return run, half of it without brakes.

“It was one of the hardest drives I have ever done, the dust was ridiculous and the seeded position started us from 30th, so we made up 17 positions.”

About halfway through the return leg, after the Rodinga checkpoint the #23 Jimco lost  brakes, with Kittle relying solely on the Open Country M/T-R’s grip to get through corners.

“At Finke any corner you overshoot there is a big hole or a big tree waiting for you. The tyres performed really well, with no brakes I needed to make sure I had the control around the corners. The tyre performed perfectly,” he said.

“They gave me the confidence to hook up and I never had any doubts.”

Following a nightmare first day, Greg Gartner Motorsports replaced a damaged torque converter and headed to Finke late last night, to see the #410 have a final crack at the 40th.

Arriving a 2am, rolling swags out until 5am and then straight back into racing, Gartner did his hard charging reputation justice.

Doing a 2:07.43 on the return, Gartner again proves that excluding mechanical drama, he is a top series contender.

Danny Brown in the #42 Pro-Class buggy and Brad Gallard were both unable to start today’s return to Alice Springs leg following gearbox and engine issues.

The PKMS #454 proved un-repairable overnight, with a sensor issue rendering the big Jimco unusable. Brad Gallard is confident that the 5.8 litre Toyota PH9 V8 will make the truck a force to be reckoned with in Waikerie.

“It’s a disappointing result but our section times on track speak for themselves,” said Gallard. “I am comfortable with the PKMS truck now. When everything comes together we will be unstoppable.”

Struggling with power steering issues throughout the race weekend, Scott Modistach in the #496 Geiser Bros TT also recorded a DNF for the Finke.

FINKE 2015: STRIKING POSITION

Over a tight, slippery, dusty prologue track Team Toyo has produced results. Toyo drivers occupy first, second and fourth position in X2WD.

Brad Gallard leads the trophy truck class in a threatening position, just 10 seconds off poll. Greg Gartner, despite a persistent voltage issue grabbed second in class. Hayden Bentley in the Racer Engineering #418 trophy truck has pulled in fourth in class and 19th outright.

Danny Brown came in at ninth outright with a clean performance bringing the #42 Pro-Class buggy in comfortably.

A recently graded prologue track made for a loose and slippery top surface, with all teams praising the Toyo Open Country M/T-R’s grip for giving them the confidence to push harder.

Brad Gallard logged a 5:13 over the eight-kilometre course putting the PKMS #454 fifth outright and in a striking position for tomorrows race.

The #454’s sister car, the Geisers Bros. #496 with Scott Modistach at the helm ran a clean 5:51, taking a more conservative approach.

“Prologue was clean, very skatey out there, there were no nice berms left so you couldn’t rail anything,” said Gallard.

“We’re first truck in and the only truck in the top 10, so in those conditions it was a top result.”

With a great start, Gallard is on track for a podium result.

“Take it as it comes day by day and keep charging. Hopefully we turn it into a really good weekend,” he said.

“We certainly have some fast cars in front of us but we are looking forward to chasing them down. We’ll get through 100k’s where the dust is really bad and out to where it gets rougher, that’s where we can we can charge some down.”

Danny Brown is eighth in Pro-Class buggy with a 5:17. The top ten spot will see the #42 enjoy a one minute dust gap for tomorrows Alice to Finke run.

“We had a clean run, we pushed but were a little bit conservative. The track was super slippery so we dropped the pressures beforehand for some traction and found plenty of grip.”

Even on the short track better suited to buggies, the prologue circuit was hard going.

“It’s all pretty close time wise, it’s really easy to overshoot a corner and lose time. It’s a challenging tight course, you don’t want to make any mistakes,” said Danny.

“The dust gap will be a massive advantage. We just want to get down there and with the dust passing will be hard. We have some markers we want to hit time wise, so as long we can keep on schedule we should be pretty good.”

Greg Gartner is the second X2WD across the line and 11th outright. The big Ford pulled a 5.20, despite a voltage issue creating drama.

“The truck kept cutting out, we had a good run halfway around but at about the three kilometre mark the engine started going. We were coming into a corner when it cut out and the truck went up on two wheels. We nearly rolled!”

Spectators remarked that even up on two wheels, Gartner refused to lift off the throttle.

“We didn’t lift, we couldn’t!” Gartner said. “We were pretty committed so we drove out of it and put it straight into the whoops on the limiter and kept going.

Gartner and the GGM team are tracking the voltage issue and will be ready to launch hard tomorrow morning.

“We’re pretty confident if we push hard we can make some time up, the truck feels comfortable, so we will have a red hot go.”

Hayden Bentley in the #419 trophy tracks maiden voyage ran a 5:28, claiming fourth in X2WD and 19th outright.

“We will have to put up with that, would have liked to be further up,” said Bentley. “It’s a work in progress, I am still getting used to the characteristics of the truck”.

“A bit more seat time will get our pace up, today was my fist drive in it,” he said.

Unfortunately, 2014 Finke Ironman Billy Geddes did not start. Niggling engine problems evolved into a blown motor. The custom nature of the motor meant it was unable to be replaced prior to this mornings kick off. Matthew Kittle also failed to finish prologue.

Pushing hard through the course in the #23 pro buggy Kittle was having a dream run; until the notorious last corner.

“I ended up on my lid” says Matthew. “I think I was pushing a bit too hard in the corner and overcorrected. It was only a very soft roll over, no damage.”

PKMS will apply to have Matthew seeded at an as yet unknown location through the field and will fight through the dust to make up position.

With hours to go until race o’clock, we offer unto our Toyo shod teams the sound advice of Billy Geddes… UPPA!