Kumarina desert race
2012 winner Brett Beaumont charging to the finish line
The results are in!
The Kumarina desert race is now done and dusted for 2012, this year saw a remarkable 55 riders participate in the event coming from all over the state and as far as New South Wales.
The event attracted names such as Matt Fish, Warren & Vernon Strange, who are all well known in the desert racing community.
Day one of the event saw NSW rider Mathew Fish take the lead with brothers Warren and Vernon Strange hot on his tail and the Gas Dash winner Warren Kempton of Canarvon close behind.
Day two saw Warren Kempton fail to start due to mechanical failure, then around the 90 kilometre mark Mathew Fish was also out of the race due to mechanical failure.
Brett Beaumont and his KTM 450SXF set the fastest lap for the weekend on his first lap on day two with a 1:16:12 time making him the man to beat.
However young Carnarvon Rider Cody Upton was out to prove that the lesser powered 250s were up to the challenge against the high powered 450s, piloting his Yamaha YZ250F to an impressive lap time of 1:17:25, the fifth fastest lap time for the weekend.
Tim Dewaard from Karratha blew everyone away with his never say die attitude, riding his monster KTM 990 Adventurer through the tight riverbed terrain to complete four of the five laps before unfortunately running out of time on day two, however his sheer determination to finish the race was remarkable and worth noting.
In the quad class, Jess Grigson from Newman was the one to beat, setting the fastest lap times for the quads.
Mechanical failure took its toll on the quads with Jess being the only quad to finish the race, giving him the first and only place victory in the quads.
The Newman-Kumarina Desert Race was started in the late 1990’s and is now hailed as Newman Enduro Club’s premier event.
The race was originally a two day race from Newman to Kumarina Road House and back, at a total distance of approximately 340 kilometres.
In recent times due to access issues relating to increased mining activity in the Newman region the event was moved to Kumarina Station.
Kumarina Station is a working cattle station 170 km south of Newman in the heart of the Pilbara.
Riders camp together on the station, amongst the pit area of the race, or stay at the motel accommodation provided by the roadhouse.
Local town groups such as St John Ambulance and State Emergency Service provide support for the event.
In 2007 when the new closed loop course was laid out it was 100 km in length consisting of mostly station track linked together with fast flowing riverbed and single tracks.
This course was an extremely fast course with bikes reaching speeds more than 160 km/h regularly.
In the interest of safety a 58 km course was marked in 2011, consisting predominantly of single trail and riverbed.
Even though this course overall was a lot slower, it was not uncommon for riders to reach high speeds.
In 2012 the course was again 100 km in distance, using the 58 km course of 2011 as the foundation.
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