Robinson brothers and Hammond make Finke history

The 49th Finke Desert Race was taken over by the Robinson brothers as they raced to the top on four wheels, while Corey Hammond also claimed the prestigious win on two wheels.

The four-wheel fight for Finke was all about the Robinson family as Travis and Beau made history by becoming the first brothers to finish the race 1-2.

They dominated the entire three-day contest from start to finish, as Travis Robinson and navigator Paul Currie emerged on top.

As the trucks were all about one name, the battle on the bikes was much closer, however.

After starting the event at such a strong pace, Travis Robinson had to stay out of trouble and he did just that as he drove to history.

Despite giving up 4m to stage winner Morgan-Horan, Travis Robinson did more than enough to be victorious.

The Finke podium. Image: Finke

He was third on the way home, but made sure his overall lead was never under threat.

Travis Robinson/Currie emerged victorious by 4m39s after 3h24m35s of taxing driving behind the wheel.

He was honoured to be crowned king of the desert for the first time.

“It’s just a massive accomplishment, it’s something that I’ve always wanted to accomplish my whole life,” he said.

“It’s about as good as it gets, the best result possible 1-2 with my brother.”

Whilst Beau Robinson and Shane Hutt completed the family 1-2, it nearly did not happen.

The charging Morgan-Horan had a strong finish, winning the final stage and came within a minute of Beau Robinson.

But he held on to make history.

“It was good it was just like pre run, we just cruised and made sure the boys behind stayed behind making sure we could protect his lead and obviously our position and cruised home,” Robinson said.

“To run 1-2, it’s a big job just to get one car to the end but to get two right at the top is unreal.”

Kiwi Morgan-Horan was rewarded for his flying finish by getting an impressive podium on debut alongside Will Haddock.

Jeff Mcniven (#604) finished 14th overall, taking out the SXS category with a time of 02:12:09.

Corey Hammond flew on two wheels. Image: Finke

In the bikes Hammond doubled his lead and cruised home to a commanding victory.

A blazing Stage 2 time of 1h52m39.529s blew away the field by more than five minutes.

The special ride ensured he rode to Dakar glory in style.

It pushed his overall margin of victory to a significant 11m28s.

Having finished fourth last year and 40th on debut, it was an impressive leap.

But perhaps even more striking was how he finished without seemingly raising a sweat.

“It was pretty good and happy with the run home,” Hammond said.

“I train pretty hard and that was pretty easy and feel pretty fresh.

“Just a bit of a leg burn and ready to go again!

“I just want to enjoy this. To think five years ago was my first Finke and was 40th.

“It shows what a bit of hard work and dedication does.

“It was nice to get a decent gap to second because I took it a bit easy in the nasty dunes

“But you still have to ride it at a certain level because the bike doesnt perform how it is meant to.”

The big story of the final day was the struggle of Waters.

The Honda rider battled and only managed the eighth fastest time of day two.

This opened the door for Campbell Hall to snaffle second place as Waters held onto a podium finish at an even where making the finish is an achievement.

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