June 7th, Finke race track.

Ready to roll out for practice day 1 at 9am, Linda, team member, at the door ready to go. Just a couple of stops for fuel and coffee! Having foolishly thought we could break some rules and grab coffee at Maccas drive through, we found that everyone else had the same idea and the queue went down the road so we diverted into town instead. Unfortunately it turned out that Linda’s almond milk was not squeaky clean and she suffered a mild allergic reaction which fortunately wasn’t life threatening. Might not go there again!

Out on the track we drove to the first fuel stop, unloaded and kitted up rider Roy. 

The mighty Yamaha ready to tackle its first run on the Finke track.

Being morning everyone heads South, so off he went and we roughly kept pace on the access road, catching up a few times along the way. About 11:15am Roy headed off with us following along, knowing that he had to get off the track at midday as direction changes over and everyone heads North. We lost sight of him and thought he might stop at Rodinga, but no sign of him. We followed the sign to Finke and crossed the track but then had a crisis of confidence as the track didn’t look right so we turned around and headed off on the wrong road! After twelve we used the 2-way radio to try and find Roy, but even though we could hear him he couldn’t hear us, then, nothing. So we figured we were out of range and turned around again. Anyway we eventually met up at Rodinga and had lunch and coffee.

Roy enjoying a coffee and lamington break at Rodinga.

Certainly a good reminder of the level of dust to get used to on the track!

Dust on the Finke Track

After 12 noon and a lunch break we headed back towards Alice, meeting up again at the beginning of the track. Back to the cabin for routine maintenance. Rider Roy having carpal tunnel issues and a numb hand. No luck contacting house doctor, so put up with it and had left overs for dinner.