Event: Australia - Alice Springs

Finke Desert Race

When:	6 - 9 Jun 2008 (annual)
Where:	Alice Springs

First held in 1976, and now called the Tattersall's Finke Desert Race, this race is one of the biggest annual sporting and social events in Alice Springs and is the richest off-road race in the Southern Hemisphere.

The multi-terrain, two-day race from Alice Springs to Aputula (Finke) Community and back again, approximately 240km each way, is open to motorcycles, quads and other vehicles designed for rough off-road conditions. There is plenty at stake for those involved, mostly in the form of pride and machismo. Think men, machines and lots of dust (basically Mad Max) and you're on the right track. There are usually something in the region of 90 cars and 300 bikes revving up for the fray.

On the Friday, the vehicles - be they two, three or four-wheeled - are put on display in the Blatherskite Park Showgrounds to be scrutinised by race officials, spectators and fellow competitors. The vehicles range in value from several thousand dollars to in excess of a hundred thousand and have been lovingly tinkered with all year round. Many will fail to make it all the way to Finke on the Sunday due to mechanical failure. Those that do make it must then complete the 8.3km Prologue race on the Saturday to decide their starting position in the main race.

The first car or buggy that arrives back in Alice Springs on Monday morning has an anxious wait of some four hours to see if they will have a faster time than the bikes. This has only happened once. Later, the trophies are awarded, the King of the Desert is proclaimed and everyone gets thoroughly drunk.