There aren’t many races left in Australia where the entire town seems to stop what it’s doing and embrace off-road racing. The Don River Dash is one of them.
Returning to Bowen, North Queensland, from September 4-6, the Don River Dash has quietly grown into one of the country’s most unique motorsport festivals. It’s three days where dirtbikes, trophy trucks and buggies all descend on the famous Don River, tackling close to 300 kilometres of constantly changing riverbed packed with deep sand, loose rock, creek crossings and wide-open flowing sections.
The Don River Dash has a personality all of its own. Friday night’s Community Night at the Bowen Showgrounds has become a highlight in itself, with competitors, teams, volunteers, locals and visitors all coming together before the racing begins. More than 150 volunteers help bring the event to life, supported by local clubs, emergency services, businesses, the Whitsunday Regional Council and Tourism and Events Queensland. The event now injects a significant economic boost into the region each year, while this year’s partnership with Ronald McDonald House North Australia will see proceeds from every official Don River Dash polo helping families with seriously ill children.
Grabbo’s Grab
Having raced the event himself before building one of Australia’s biggest fly-in, fly-out desert race programs through VIP Race Experience, Ben Grabham has watched the Don River Dash evolve from a regional race into one of the country’s premier off-road weekends.
“It hasn’t really needed to improve because it was already amazing from day one,” Grabham laughs. “It’s probably the last race I go to where the whole community actually gets behind it. It’s laid back, it’s fun and you’ve got motocross bikes riding from the showgrounds down the public road into the river. That’s how I think racing should be. We’re in one of the prettiest parts of Australia, right near the Great Barrier Reef, and the whole town gets behind it. It feels more like a holiday than a race meeting.”
That relaxed atmosphere is exactly why the Don has become one of Australia’s best events for newcomers. The Don offers a genuine opportunity for everyday riders to line up alongside Australia’s elite without feeling completely out of their depth.
“That’s probably the biggest thing,” Grabham explains. “People think they need six months of preparation like Finke, but they don’t. The river changes every single year because it floods. I’ve raced it two or three times and I’ve honestly never seen the same track twice. You can prerun little sections, but there’s almost no point because the water changes everything. The track really isn’t there until race weekend.”
One year the river is deep and soft. The next it’s packed hard with flowing corners. Water crossings appear, disappear and move location depending on what the wet season has delivered. Even riders who have competed every year start Saturday morning looking at a racetrack they’ve never ridden before.
“Everyone gets carried away worrying about what the weather’s doing,” Grabham says. “I don’t really overthink it until I’m there. We know we’re running a paddle tyre, we know there’s going to be some water crossings and once we see what the week’s like then we might waterproof the electrics a little better or make a few small changes. But generally it’s pretty straightforward.”
That doesn’t mean the race is easy. Far from it. The combination of trophy trucks, buggies and side-by-sides racing before the motorcycles means the riverbed gets hammered long before the bikes leave the line. Deep braking bumps appear where there were none on Friday, sand whoops double in size and lines disappear beneath hundreds of tyres.
Grabham believes that’s where many newcomers come unstuck. “The biggest mistake people make is charging straight into it,” he says. “The sighting lap is one thing, but by the time the cars have raced, you’ve got a completely different track. I always tell people to start slower than they think they need to. Ride into the race. Work out what the track’s doing before you start pushing because I’ve seen plenty of people land on their heads trying to be heroes too early.”
The good news is you don’t need a full factory race bike to finish. “That’s another beauty of the Don,” Grabham says. “You can literally turn up on a stock motocross bike or stock enduro bike and finish. It won’t be as enjoyable as a properly set-up bike, but you can absolutely do it. Logistics are easy too. Your fuel crew is all in one place, you’re only a couple of kilometres from the showgrounds and it’s nowhere near as complicated as somewhere like Finke.”
WHO’S GOING TO WIN?
Trying to pick a Don River Dash winner is never easy because the river has a habit of making fools of everyone. One flood can completely reshape the course, while one mechanical issue can end a rider’s day in an instant. But if there’s one rider Grabham believes everyone should be watching, it’s Yamaha privateer Brent Storey.
“Going off last year, Brent Storey is the guy,” Grabham says. “To be honest, he was smoking everyone. He would’ve won comfortably if it wasn’t for a mechanical, and it wasn’t because he was over-riding either. It was just one of those freak things. If Brent’s in the same shape this year and doing the same sort of riding, he’s the bloke everyone has to beat.”
What impressed Grabham most wasn’t just Storey’s outright speed, but how he attacked the track. “Watching him was a bit like watching Chucky (Daniel Sanders). He was just ploughing through the whoops and sections where everyone else was backing off. He’s a big, strong bloke, the Yamaha 450 isn’t exactly slow, and he just looked comfortable everywhere. He was seriously impressive.”
Of course, writing off multi-time winner Liam Walsh would be foolish. “Every time Liam races the Don he’s either won it or finished right at the front,” Grabham says. “He’s got that motocross background and, even though people call it a desert race, it’s actually a pretty motocross-style track in a lot of ways. He’s always going to be one of the favourites.”
Then there’s defending King of the River Ivan Long. Consistency won him the crown last year, and he’ll again carry the coveted number one plate into Bowen. Campbell Hall also looms as a genuine podium threat after another outstanding season.
“Every time Campbell puts time into a discipline he improves. I’d expect him to take another step this year. He’ll definitely be one of the front-runners.”
BUILDING A DON WINNER
Unlike Finke, where months of testing and prerunning often separate the front-runners, Grabham says preparing a bike for the Don is surprisingly straightforward. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but there are a few non-negotiables.
“If we’re starting with a standard motocross or enduro bike, the first things I’d fit are a steering damper and Steg Pegz,” he says. “Then I’d run a front mousse and either a mousse or a heavy-duty tube in the rear. The river throws a lot more rocks at you than people realise and punctures can ruin your day pretty quickly.”
Suspension remains one of the biggest investments. “Good suspension is super important because the track changes so much. It starts one way and by the end of the weekend it’s something completely different.”
Interestingly, oversized fuel tanks have become far less important. “Because everyone has to stop in the pits every lap now, you can pretty much get away with a standard motocross tank. That’s made life a lot easier.”
The biggest mistake is turning up with a tired engine. “The one thing I see every year is people bringing bikes that are either worn out or running too lean. Deep river sand is incredibly hard on engines and that’s where people start lunching motors. I’d much rather have a bike running a little rich and safe than chasing every last horsepower.”
The old 450 versus 500 debate also continues to rage and the Don isn’t impervious. “People ask whether you need a 500 to win, but I don’t think you do,” Grabham says. “A good rider with a well-set-up bike can win on either. Sometimes the 500 suits a heavier, faster track, but there are plenty of sections where the 450 is actually the better bike. It comes down to the rider more than the capacity.”
Whether you’re lining up on the start line, standing on the riverbank watching Australia’s best tackle the ever-changing Don River, or simply soaking up the atmosphere around the Bowen Showgrounds, there’s something about this race that keeps pulling people back.
As Grabham puts it, that’s what makes the Don special. “It’s just one of those races where you leave thinking, ‘That was a bloody good weekend.’ You race all day, camp with your mates, the whole town gets behind it and everyone feels welcome. We need more events like that in Australia.”
Come September, the river will change once again. New lines will form, new stories will be written and another King and Queen of the River will be crowned. The only question is whether you’ll be there to watch it… or brave enough to line up and become part of the story yourself.
MORE THAN JUST A RACE
What really separates the Don River Dash from every other race in Australia isn’t the track, it’s the people.
Take Ben Wust, for example. Originally from the Sunshine Coast, he travelled north every year as a DIDO (drive in, drive out) mine worker simply to race the Don. Eventually he fell in love with Bowen so much that he packed up the family, moved north permanently and now lines up alongside his two sons every September.
Or Justin Burgess and Katie Robinson. Burgess has raced almost every Don River Dash ever held, and after introducing Katie to the event, the pair eventually celebrated a finish-line marriage proposal that became one of the race’s most memorable moments.
Then there’s the Johnson family, where identical twins Billy and Michael race alongside father-in-law Greg Kelly, while Kelly has also teamed up with his daughter Trish to tackle the event together.
The women’s field continues to grow as well. Three-time Queen of the River Georgia Hanrahan returns alongside former winner Beck Koppe, Theodore’s Susan Koop, South Australia’s Naomi Findlay and Katie Robinson, proving the Don River Dash has become one of the country’s most welcoming off-road events.
“The Don River Dash is the highlight of my year,” says former Queen of the River Beck Koppe. *”I put in months of training and plenty of bike time to hold on for nearly five hours in the sand. It’s a great event that just seems to grow every year.”
Perhaps local rider Tom Jack summed it up best.
“Competing in the Don River Dash is a full-on rush. Once you hit that river sand, it’s full send – battling other riders, the chopped-up track and your own mind the whole way. What I love most is seeing the toughness and grit of the riders. I’ve watched people cross the finish line with broken bikes or broken bodies just to earn the glory of saying, ‘I finished the Don.'”
