With the red dust of the Northern Territory now settled after an intense and brutal Finke Desert Race, motocross rider Julie Denyer has emerged as the third fastest female rider.
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“This is the first year that females have been represented in a category. I’m pretty stoked that I made it to the podium,” she said.
The Finke Desert Race is an iconic, off-road motor sport event that sees hundreds of motorists race from Alice Springs to the Finke community over the June long weekend.
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“You race to Finke one day, rest at camp for the night, then race back to Alice Springs the next day,” Julie said.
With $10,000 in prize money up for grabs, the motor race is not only one of the larger race events, but also one of the most demanding.
Although the race took place between June 8 to 11, Julie said preparation started much earlier.
“It took me about three and a half days to get to Alice Springs. Then I had to do a pre-run and go around the practice track a few times.”
Before competing at the intense race, riders must take on a prologue race to determine their start position on the day.
“I didn’t do so well, and so I was put in the back of the pack with the slower riders at the start of the Finke Desert Race,” Julie said.
Add a dry and scorched race track to the mix, and everything seemed against Julie.
“Alice Springs hasn’t had rain for some time, so there was a lot of dust. The cars and buggies raced ahead of us, and the track was falling apart in some places. There were big potholes, square-edged bumps, but they were covered in dust so it was more difficult to spot them,” Julie said.
Despite the fog of red dust, Julie raced the 230km to Finke in a little less than 4 hours. That included two quick pit-stops for fuel.
“There are the top racers who are doing speeds of 200km/hr. My brain kicked in during the race and said this was dangerous. I wasn’t willing to go as fast as them. I kept it to 100 to 110 km/hr,” Julie said.
Many would also consider the race to be dangerous for good reason, after the track has claimed the lives of riders in the past.
Julie admitted she had a close brush on the practice track, days before the race.
“I was doing some free running when I had a massive crash. I knocked myself out. One of the other riders found me unresponsive. When I came out of it, I started to vomit. The ambulance came and took me to hospital, where I stayed for four hours,” Julie said.
But a concussion, black eye, and mangled handles on the bike weren’t enough to deter Julie for good.
“My dad also rides bikes. He understands what it’s like, and said he wouldn’t be disappointed if I decided I didn’t want to race. But, I had come all this way. I had sponsors and local businesses in town supporting me. I didn’t want to let them down,” she said.
But the risk of injury isn’t the last of the dangers, with racers also left without reception.
“When you get 30 kms outside of Alice Springs, you’re on your own.”
Though, Julie said adequate measures had been put in place for the well-being of the riders.
“All along the way there are checkpoints with paramedics and ambulances. The people running the show know where the riders are all the time. There are camps set along the track. I knew that if my motorbike broke down or I had an accident, help was never far away.”
Even with safety accounted for, there was still the nagging fear something might go wrong.
“My parents left Alice Springs before the race to set up camp at Finke. I told them it would take me about four hours to get there. They were both standing at the finish line when I crossed the finish line and I could see on my mother’s face the look of relief,” Julie said.
Julie clocked in around three hours and 45 minutes on her run back to Alice Springs the next day. Her total time of seven hours and 43 minutes placed her as 365th, out of more than 600 riders.
It also placed her as the third fastest female.
“There were about 11 female riders out of everyone else,” she said.
She said despite the bridge in numbers between females and males, she saw more women were recognised in the sport.
“Tatts Finke Desert Race has been around for 43 years. This is my second run, and I was stoked to see the committee include a female category this year.”
While the winners of other race classes got prize money and a trophy, there was only a trophy up for grabs in the female category. For Julie, she’ll take the smaller victories as they come.
“It’s disappointing, but it’s still progress and I’m happy that they’ve recognised us,” she said.
Jesse Moore and Brett Carroll were also part of the race.
Julie thanks her sponsors Sprayer Barn Moree, Rob Kemp Land Forming, Wendy and Greg Woods, Ruby Soles, Darren and Stacey Hart, Deft Hair, Funnel Webb Filters, Thomas Lee Motorcycles, Brad Wheeler and David and Margo Denyer.
