ARB Tamworth owner Phil Swindale and navigator Matt Costello are heading to this year’s Tatts Finke Desert Race today having learnt much from their first foray last year.
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Last year, their Polaris RZR XP 900 utility terrain vehicle (UTV), entered in the side-by-side class, had an engine malfunction when dust clogged the air filter, so they only managed to complete the first leg from Alice Springs to Finke, unable to do the return leg.
But, while Mr Swindale said they didn’t place last year, they were using the experience to come back bigger and better, with three newer UTVs – Polaris RZR XP 1000s – entered.
“We’ve built these to cope with what we learnt from the last model as well as the fact it’s a faster unit,” Mr Swindale said.
“These are a new model – they have bigger wheels, they’re longer, have better, heavy-duty suspension and double the fuel capacity – just under 80 litres.”
For last year’s race, they replaced the rear seats with an extra fuel tank so the machine would last the 225km leg from Alice Springs to Finke.
They’ve done the same again and now the UTVs had roughly a 200km range, he said.
“We’re actually pretty borderline whether we’re going to make it in without a fuel stop,” Mr Swindale said.
One of the models will be driven by four-time Australasian Rally Champion and current UTV Rally Champion Cody Crocker, of Sydney.
It was quite a nod to the prowess of the Tamworth team and its growing stature as the go-to franchise for these sorts of off-road modifications that Polaris Australia, which owns the Crocker vehicle, had chosen ARB Tamworth to prepare it.
In fact, Mr Swindale said he was expecting about a dozen clients from all over the nation to come out to the 39th Finke Desert race, which goes from June 7-9, to see how the machines worked in the brutal
testing ground of central Australia under race conditions.
It was brilliant to be able to combine the passion of motorsport, testing and improving the UTVs – and maybe closing a few deals after customers saw them handle the racing environment.
“We expect to pick up orders at Alice Springs – they don’t get the opportunity to go to Tamworth but they’re all going to Alice Springs,” Mr Swindale said.
The third car will be driven by Ian Hughes with navigator Phil Bell.
The class, for UTVs, is in its second year at Finke and has jumped up the ladder from being the third-biggest class in numbers of entries last year to having the second highest this year. There are 90 vehicles entered, including 16 UTVs and 435 motorcycles.
