How did you get the bike bug? David Walsh: “Like so many others I started out on a Pee Wee 50 then moved up to an XR100, but things got serious when I got a KX85 at 13 years old and started racing junior motocross with the Alice Springs club. I changed the Kawasaki for a Honda 85 and then moved up to the 125 class and by the time I started racing the Finke at 17 I was on a KTM250F.”
How did your first Finke go? “It didn’t start off too well as I had some bike issues in the prologue and was seeded 162nd off the start so there were a lot of riders in front of me, but I was the 19th fastest into Finke, passing 108 bikes which put me amongst the 450s for the return leg and I finished 16th outright.”
How many times have you ridden the Finke and for what results? “I’ve ridden a total of 16 with five consecutive wins from 2019 to 2024, three second places and one third in the outright placings. My first podium was in 2012 on a Honda CRF450R on my fifth attempt but my wins were all on KTM 500s.”
Do you hold any other titles? “I won some Northern Territory Junior Titles in the 125 and 250 classes but Finke was my main interest when I hit Seniors, although I was competitive in Territory motocross events.”
Have you ridden any other big events other than Finke? “Living in Alice Springs made it an expensive exercise to travel to interstate events and I was only on apprentice wages at the time. I had a go at the Hattah Desert Race but didn’t make the podium. It was different to what I was used to, not as fast as Finke but a lot more technical with tighter turns and different terrain. All my riding has been either in motocross or desert racing. I rode the Baja 1000 twice, in 2019 and 2024, finishing fifth outright with teammates Jacob Smith, Ben Grabham and my cousin Liam Walsh.”
What is your most memorable win? “The 2019 Finke victory was my first and that makes it the most memorable accomplishment for me as I’d been trying for so long and had had a few problems in previous years due to bike failures while leading and other hassles. I was starting to think I was destined never to win but I finally got the monkey off my back and it was a great relief. It was a very dry year that year and I regard it as my toughest Finke because of the amount of dust and hidden holes around.”
What does the future hold? “I retired in 2025 but that didn’t last long. I’m planning to ride again in 2026, the 50th running of the Finke, and I’ll be on a Honda 450.”
Finke can mean high-speed crashes. How have you fared? “I’ve had my share of falls and injuries as well as mechanical breakdowns. In one crash I broke my collarbone, sternum and six vertebrae in my back and had bleeding in my lungs. That was in training for the Finke in 2012 in late December so I spent New Year in hospital. Then at the actual 2013 race there was a problem with the prologue timing so we had to run it a second time and I crashed again, dislocating my shoulder and collarbone and knocking myself out, so I didn’t see the start line at all. It always seemed the odd-numbered years were the ones that gave me trouble — 2013, then in 2015 I cracked a piston, and in 2017 while leading by five minutes and 45 seconds and only 10 kilometres out of Finke I had more engine issues and it just stopped. I finally put that curse to rest when I won in 2019.”
Does any bike stand out in your memory as a favourite? “The 2024 KTM 500 was a very fast and good-handling bike, but I’m also fond of the 2019 KTM 500. After all, that was the bike that broke my run of bad luck.”
Who would you regard as your most respected rival? “That would have to be Toby Price. I ran second to him a few times and he was always the one everybody wanted to beat. I was only a part-time rider who worked as a chippie and to be able to run with him was quite memorable. It was a pretty cool experience to rub shoulders with him.”
