With less than 3 minutes seperating 1^st and 3^rd positions in the quad class, the 2010 Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race was a real show stopper right to the end, and the Australian Can-am X-Team was there in force. The team put on a huge display at scrutineering including the 50 foot X-Team Race Rig, brand new pit tents and banners, even a Spyder RS was dragged into the red centre for the doting crowds to drawl over. The newly released 47industries DVD “Thumb Pump 3. the X-Team Files” was handed out to race fans who crammed the display to see all of the team race bikes, watch the movie on the big screen and have race posters signed by their favourite riders.

The race itself was not as gruelling as usual, with several kilometres of famous Finke Whoops graded out and replaced with foot deep bull dust and fast flowing road sections.

Team riders competing in the event this year were Lisa Hoyle (DS450 XMX), Darrell Knight (Outlander 800), Rick Beer (DS450 XMX), Colin Lawson (Renegade 800 XC) and for their first ever Finke experience, Jake Van Vliet (DS450 XMX) and Chad McKay (DS450 XMX).

Knight had some issues early in race day one and ended up crewing with the teams refuelling team “Three Tors” at fuel stop one at the 60km mark. Lisa made it home in a respectable time while Finke Veteran Rick Beer showed he still had what it takes, coming home with yet another top 10 finish. Lawson put in a stellar effort too on the big Renegade 800 XC just missing out on a top 10 finish by a whisker in 14^th place.

Special mention must go to Beery’s daughter Chloe who prologued fastest girl over all bike classes, then made it there and back on her first attempt after turning 16 (making her eligible to compete) only weeks before the race. She even smoked her old man off the line in prologue, which she still continues to remind him.

X-Team rider, 16 year old Jake Van Vliet proved he was one to watch, when after running out of fuel on day one and starting day 2 in 41^st spot, he shocked all by overtaking 30 of his fellow quad competitors on his way back to Alice.

The stand out for the weekend though was Motocross Pro rider Chad McKay from Western Australia who also lost 15 minutes on day one from a refuelling debacle, only to fly home on day 2 and take second place and only missing out on the top podium spot by one minute. The young Desert Racing Rookie was obviously disappointed to miss out on the top spot by such a small gap, but was stoked to podium in his first ever Finke attempt. He will be back next year to make amends without a doubt.

Most importantly, all X-Team riders got home safely and in the process, showed everyone that the Can-am X-Team is a force to be reckoned with.

 

 

It seems that we had all forgotten what it was like to feel cold, but by sunrise on race day in our nations capital, it all came flooding back. Minus 2 degrees greeted race fans as the sun tried desperately to break through the fog above the ACT Motocross Complex on Sunday 16^th of May.

The Can-am X-Team were again there in force, but for a few notable absences from injured riders Myles Dillon and Mitch Van Vliet, as well as Darrell Knight and Lisa Hoyle who were on site in Sydney as part of the Can-am Spyder Roadster Experience.

Track conditions were awesome thanks to hours of tireless work from the local club, as well as local and X-Team rider Rick Beer.

Pro rider Chad McKay was still not 100% fit after separating his shoulder not 2 weeks earlier, however he still managed to clean sweep the Senior Production Class, as well as take out 3^rd place in the Pro Class. This Pro Class podium was even more impressive considering McKay rode almost an entire 20 minute moto with a flat rear tyre. He now has an intense 3 weeks of recovery and training before he joins his fellow team mates to tackle the Finke Desert Race on the June long weekend in Alice Springs.

Young rookie Jake Van Vliet also proved his worth taking out 2^nd place in the highly contested Intermediate Class after taking a first place and two seconds. Jake will also be having his first crack at The Finke in a few weeks.

Rick “Wonder Boy” Beer made it quite clear that he is still a force to be reckoned with, setting a blistering pace early in the event and taking out the top podium spot in the 45+ Vets Class. Not bad considering he spent most of the week leading up to the event in a loader, prepping the track and leaving him little time to train himself. Team mate “Pistol Pete” Middleton helped out the podium tally too with a third place in the same class.

“Super Cooper” Van Vliet, the smallest X-Team rider with the biggest personality, showed yet again that he has what it takes to take home the bacon with a second place in the 90cc/110cc modified Junior Class.

Another great result for the Australian Can-am X-Team and more proof that the Can-am DS450 XMX is an amazing piece of machinery.

 

After a fantastic top 2 finish in the hotly contested Condo 750 last year, everyone was keen to see what the X-Team could dish out this year. Unfortunately due to other BRP commitments, 2009 second place getter Darrell "Bullet" Knight was not able to prepare suitably for the event this year and was forced to run as crew mechanic for team mate and last years victor, Colin "Captain Jack" Lawson.

Lawson was well prepared with a heavily modified 2010 Renegade 800 XC, however the power modifications turned out to be a little too much, causing a dropped cam chain just 10km into the first stage on day one, dropping him out of contention for a podium with a DNF for the stage. The rest of the crew helped him work tirelessly in the heat and dust to swap out a cam chain from the back up bike, which did manage to get Colin going again later in the day, only to fail again on day 2. Swapping a cam chain without removing the head is no menial task in a fully prepped workshop, so the efforts of the team to do so trackside was somewhat of a miracle in itself.

The locust plague was in full swing which was evident from the front of everyones support vehicles. It turns out they don't taste very good either, from what riders were telling us.

The weekend was by no means a waste of time though, with plenty of lessons learned and preparations made for Finke and Safari later in the year. I guess you can't win them all.