Hundreds of competitors on dirt bikes and in cars will attempt to take on the challenging Central Australian landscape in the annual Finke Desert Race, widely billed as the toughest off-road motorsport event in the country.
The iconic race sees competitors tear along the ancient Finke riverbed from Alice Springs to the remote community of Apatula, and then back the following day.
International star of the sport Toby Price has returned to defend his title in a trophy truck, but the seven-time Finke champion has nothing left to prove.
With his record-breaking win last year, Price became the first person to have won in both the car and bike races of the famous event.
Alice Springs local and two-time Finke winner David Walsh will enter the bike rice for the 15th time, hoping to hold on to his King of the Desert title.
Rising star one to watch
At 22 years of age, Danielle Foot already has five Finke races under her belt and was the fastest woman on a bike in the 2021 event.
This year she is upping the ante and attempting both the car and bike races back-to-back.
Foot will race to Finke in a Turbo Can-Am alongside her father as his navigator, and then be flown by helicopter back to the start line to run again on a bike, doing the same in reverse on Monday.
"We hope to win the Class 3 [bikes] again … and the fastest female award, and also just make it back in the Can-Am and create some history," Foot said.
"You don't have anything else like this in Australia. It's one of a kind."
Racing to get there and back
While some competitors race to win, many others have entered simply for the thrill of the ride and the aim of crossing the finish line.
For Alice Springs local Ben Fitzgerald the race has been a major part of his life.
When he travelled to the central desert to compete in what he thought would be his third and final Finke race in 2008, Fitzgerald was set up on a blind date.
Three years later, moments after riding across the line at Finke, he proposed.
"Lucky she said 'yes'."
This year he will compete alongside his 16-year-old daughter Sharnee Muller.
"Since I got my first decent bike, that's when it was really like, 'I'll do this the moment I turn 16'. It's definitely on my bucket list and now it's actually here," she said.
Fitzgerald said the main aim was for both of them to finish the race safely.
"Once you leave the line on race day one, so much goes on. There's so many bikes and so much dust, holes that weren't there when you were pre-running, crowds. It's like the world stops for that time."
Emphasis on spectator safety
Race organisers pledged this year's event would look quite different with sweeping new safety standards introduced in response to a crash last year that left one man dead and two others injured.
Sixty-year-old Nigel Harris died when he was struck by a vehicle that veered off the track and into a group of spectators.
"We're really at the crossroads," race director Antony Yoffa said.
The race typically attracts about 10,000 spectators, many of whom set up campsites along the length of the remote track.
Marshalls will be enforcing the new rule that all spectators must stand at least 20 metres back from the track.
There is also a ban on camping, cars, or fixed structures within 30 metres of the track.
The new minimum standard for competitors is that they must have participated in a Finke race or similar off-road event to be eligible to enter.
Mr Yoffa said there would be a "world-class" team of about 60 paramedics working at the race, including St John's Ambulance staff at every checkpoint and aboard three helicopters.
The car race will start at 7:30am on Sunday morning, followed by the bikes from 11:45am.
