The thrill of the bumps and jumps is what has attracted Steven Graham to once again make the trip to The Finke Desert Race.
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The race is an off-road, multi-terrain two-day race for bikes, cars and buggies through desert country from Alice Springs to the small Finke community.
'Finke' as it is commonly known, is one of the biggest sporting events in the Northern Territory.
It also has the reputation of being one of the most difficult offroad courses in one of the most remote places in the world.
Graham has made the trip up to the endurance race in the Northern Territory for the past four years and is excited to be heading back over the June long weekend.
"Hopefully, we will get a good result," he said.
"We have had a hundred per cent finish rate up there so far, so looking forward to another finish."
There are hours of work that goes into preparing for Finke, with a complete rebuild taking place in between events.
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That work has often brought prizes for Graham, having taken out his class, Sportslite, three times including the 2021 event.
"The results have been pretty good so touch wood I don't want to jinx myself," he said.
"...then in the top 10 or 15 overall, so the car has been good."
There will be a chance to the winning formula this year for Graham as it had been a father-son combination bringing home the class win last year.
Unfortunately, Steven's father, Daryl, has elected to stay home to ensure the harvest is able to be completed, which has been slowed down due to the wet weather.
"This time last year, we were all finished," he said.
"Harvest in priority which is why dad said he'd stay home so that we could go."
As to who would be filling the navigator role, Graham said it would be either Shannon Irvin, who he used to race with or Tanner James from Mildura.
Graham isn't the only Griffith-based driver to be making the trip to the Northern Territory.
In the Prolite Buggy class, Jason Richards and his wife Kristy will form one duo, while Jason Hample will navigate for Glenn Collis.
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