::: Wideopen Motorsport :::

Finke Race Report
Sunday , 12th June 2011

We didnt FINKE this was on the cards....

After a long haul of 2600+kms the boys got the race car to Finke.

Recon. started well until they came across a bike rider who had broken his leg, and didnt have a sat phone!

Prolouge was great, and the team was really happy with the cars handling and performance.

Race day was off to an was an excellent start at 8:13am (Alice Springs time) however it turned out to be nothing but a 20km sprint to devastation.

It's with great disappointment Wideopen Motorsports race at Finke had come to an end.

The exact cause of the race ending fault is unknown at this time, however driver Shaun Dal-Santo has confirmed the gearbox has let go, and taken out the bell housing in turn creating a fire in the air intake.

"There was a 'wicked vibration' and it seemed to get worse as it kept going.

As I rolled to a stop there was all this black smoke, next thing there's flames coming out the air intake"

A big effort Reecey from Off Road Rush helped Shaun extinguish the fire in the air intake, virtually saving the car from complete destruction as we've seen happen in races gone by.

After a long haul of 2600+kms, and endless hours of preperation, and another D.N.F. for Wideopen, however it should be noted that nearly half of the car field failed to finish Day One of the race, with only 41 out of 73 making it the 226 kilometres down the track to Finke.

Wideopen Motorsport would like to thank EVERYONE who has helped them get to Finke 2011,

and they'll be back to tackle Finke in the future.