MOUNT Gambier’s Kent Collins powered through the Northern Territory’s tough terrain at speeds of up to 160kph and crossed the Finke Desert Race finish line fourth outright in the bike category on his KTM 500 EXC-F for the second consecutive year to be categorised with some of the best athletes in the country.
Collins finished fourth in 2017, but with more world-class riders, including eventual winner Toby Price, the 23-year-old was pleased to repeat the result.
With the top three also on board KTM 500 EXC-F’s, Collins – who competed in the iconic race for the sixth time – also finished fourth in his 451cc and above four stroke class.
Collins ran a similar set up to last year for what is known as one of the most difficult off-road races in Australia.
Competitors can take part in the race in a buggy, car, truck or quad or motorbike and the fastest time for the 460km round trip from Alice Springs to Finke River and back through the outback terrain of red dirt and sand is handed top honours.
Collins entered the race with little expectations, but sat in an impressive seventh position heading into Day 1, after prologue.
His run down to Finke was as smooth as the gruelling desert race gets.
He made his way up to fourth with a time of 2:15:56.2 after a second-corner crash.
The return to Alice Springs was slightly quicker, finishing in 2:15:05.4.
While most riders average 100kph, some of the quickest – which includes Collins – head speeds of 160kph through the tough terrain.
He was able to hold his KTM wide open to finish with an overall time of 04:31:01.7, about 35 minutes behind the winner.
Collins said the event was difficult, but rewarding.
“There are lots of parts about the race that I do not like, but it is addictive to get back and better your last result,” he said.
While Collins’ preparation focused on “seat time” this year, he also took part in a charity cycling ride from Melbourne to Adelaide.
Personal trainer Rob Povey also helped the endurance racer prepare.
Collins’ aim for 2018 was to better his time from the year before, but he – like many other competitors – was unable to do so due to the tough conditions.
“I really had no expectations as far as position goes leading into the race this year,” he said.
“My focus was to beat last year’s time on the track and just finish really.
“It is a really easy to have a mechanical issue or crash with the speed that is involved, so finishing is the highest priority.
“This year the track was a lot slower than last year and really rough from the large number of buggies.
“They have not had any rain this year so the dust was really bad.
“This played a big part in prologue as a lot of top riders could not set a good time as they could not see the track.”
Collins’ time was roughly five minutes slower.
“My race started pretty bad,” he said.
“I crashed on the second corner, which just shook me up for the whole day.
“Being 31 degrees over the weekend also played a huge part in energy levels.
“I had to ride a little reserved on day one to save myself for day two.
“Overall it was a good race with minimal mistakes and the riders in front of me are people I look up to.
“So to come fourth behind Toby Price, David Walsh and Jack Simpson is not something I’m disappointed about.”
While he was pleased with his finish, Collins said the biggest reward was to compete with the support of family, friends and just a few sponsors.
“It is awesome to be able to back it up and complete the race with just family and friends helping,” he said.
“There is so much effort that goes into this one weekend, so for it all to come together, you cannot ask for much more.
“Without Mum, Dad and my sponsors I would never of even been able to do this race.
“Also, all my friends and crew that took the time and effort to come and help, I really appreciate it.”
Collins said he will be back and well prepared for Finke in 2019.
“I will be back there,” he said.
“It’s too early yet to say if there will be any changes or not, but in a few months I should know and then it will be full swing in preparation all over again.
“It always is good fun meeting new people and the journey along the way.
“Fingers crossed for another good year in 2019.”
