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Kalgoorlie Desert Race
Kalgoorlie Desert Race
Myself , Inver and Jinxy and a go at KDR a couple of weekends ago and this would be my take on the race the other boys might have a different view but couple of things we would agree on, man was it dusty. I was still blowing out dust boggers out of my nose 7 days later and getting stuck behind a quad in those conditions is no fun. Myself and Jinxy got there on the Thursday before the race and on the Friday we did a lap around the Prologue loop in the ute with Inver rocking up on the Friday afternoon. Friday evening was scrutineering along with the street parade in Kalgoorlie. This gave the locals a chance to have a look at the bikes and race buggies, while that was happening we decided that a meal down the pub was a good idea. Saturday we got to do one sight lap of the prologue loop before being sent off in two's to see what time we did it in so as to get our placing for the first lap of the main loop. So Saturday afternoon we line up again to start the main loop. We were sent off in two's a minute apart which gave you just enough space to keep out of the riders dust in front as long as you were keeping the same pace. Catching up to the guy in front was when the fun began, as it was pretty hard to pass with the dust being so bad, you just couldn't see and the track had a lot of corners. In most cases you had to wait until you came across a bit of a straight and give it a hand full of throttle and hopefully you could a make a pass, sometimes the dust cleared through the corners and you could make a pass. Sometimes things went your way and you managed to get a clear run at passing but that was not very often. Jinxy found that getting stuck behind a quad was no fun and while trying to make a pass came off and ended up getting ran over by a bike following behind him. Luckily no damaged and he didn't get hurt and was able to get going again. Inver was having his own battles racing guys through the dust and just as he would get pass one and get some clean air then he would catch the next guy in front and have to do the same all over again. I was lucky enough to get a clear run after the fuel stop and thoroughly enjoyed the dust free run. Sunday was the same except we were up early ( 5:15am riders meeting) and sent out before the race buggies. There was a couple of nasty accidents on the bikes in the Sunday morning loop which held things up for awhile while the guys got choppered out. I managed to stack it with three corners to go and i thought my race was done looking at the bike, but after getting it back to the pits and replacing a couple of bent parts, the bike was all good for the last lap. We were back on the bikes around lunch time for our last loop of the KDR, which we all made it back in one piece. I thought the track was good and it had a bit of everything. From you slow sections to your flat out fast as your bike would go. The guys did a good job of sign posting the track , but with the dust it was a case of riding to the conditions, if you had the balls to ride fast through the dust and take the risk then you did pick up extra time.. i didn't think it was worth the risk in most cases. Each loop was about 120 km i think. After the fuel stop it seemed it didn't take long to get back to the finish line. Its a well organised event, yes it had a few hiccups as they all do but i think this race will get bigger as the years go by. Will i go back... yeah, i enjoyed it and it's a lot closer than the Finke, and while its still a tuff ride, not to the same extent as the Finke. Big Thanks goes to Inver's wife Sarah, Sam and Noel who did an awesome job at the fuel stops and provided lots of laughs, few stories to tell about those, Inver and Jinxy can tell them. Cheers to Inver and Jinxy for coming along and sharing in a great weekend of racing out in the Kalgoorlie desert. Same time and place next year...? Cheers        |
