The 2019 race season is done and dusted and the last race of the year was an absolute blast! Friday we did recon of the 120km track and it is a massively challenging and technical track. Very demanding but also very rewarding. Friday night’s street party was a unique way to kick off the event, but the energy and atmosphere really sets the weekend up to be an exciting one
Saturday morning we went out for recon of the prologue track and found we were having some issues with the rear brakes. Some quick work before the prologue start had that fixed and we set a competitive time despite lacking a bit of confidence under brakes and in the rough. Our time was good enough for 21st outright
Section 1 we had a conservative run, learning the track and starting to push the Yamaha in a few places. We kept it clean and came home 18th in class and were the 5th quickest SXS. We took the car back to town for a wash and prep and found the Yamaha was basically ready to hit the track again with minimal maintenance
Sunday morning’s section was to be a tough one. We picked up the pace and looked to be on for a good lap time until the switch for the fuel transfer pump failed meaning that we were going to run out of fuel. This cost about 6 minutes as a roadside repair and we pushed hard on the run home, catching a CanAm but just running out of time to actually make a pass
In the service break we replaced the switch and then went on the charge in the final 120kms. Starting 25th our final lap was 14th outright and the 3rd fastest SXS for the section. This moved the Yamaha into 19th outright for the whole race and another 1st in SXS sport (non turbo). Against the Turbo SXS we would have placed 8th out of 15, which are very happy with considering the down time we had.
The Kalgoorlie Desert Race was a fantastic way to finish the 2019 season and we look forward to what is in store in 2020. Thanks to all our customers and the other competitors for a great years racing!