The 2026 Kamfari lived up to its reputation as one of Australia’s most brutal off-road races, with mud, crashes, mechanical failures and extreme conditions combining to produce a dramatic four-hour enduro that saw just half the field reach the finish line.
The action began almost immediately after the shotgun start. Riders mounted their dead-engine bikes and charged away from the line, but only 50 metres into the race Nathan Evans and William Thurlbeck drifted towards each other and tapped handlebars. Evans stayed upright, but Thurlbeck was launched to the ground. Nash White had nowhere to go and slammed into Thurlbeck’s Husqvarna, sending him over the handlebars and leaving both bikes tangled together.
The chaotic start also caught out four-time Kamfari winner Chris Warwick, who remained stranded on the start line after missing the gear lever on his Sherco. By the time he got going, Warwick was second last.
Defending winner Daniel McInnes, carrying the number-one plate, was first into the water crossing at the end of the opening straight, with Nathan Evans close behind and Tyrone Marcus running third.
By the completion of the opening lap, Marcus had moved into the lead ahead of Evans, while young gun Lleyton Mitchell had climbed into third.
With more than three metres of rain falling during the Top End wet season, the famous Kamfari mud flats were already swallowing riders by the end of the first lap. The 9km course became increasingly difficult as the race progressed and ultimately only around 50 per cent of starters completed the four-hour ordeal.
Despite his disastrous opening-lap crash, Thurlbeck staged a remarkable recovery and had climbed back to fourth place by lap three before his race ended in retirement around the halfway mark.
McInnes’ title defence was also short-lived. Battling illness before the race, the defending champion withdrew at the end of lap three.
Marcus looked poised to challenge for victory after finishing second outright in 2025, but his hopes disappeared after a heavy impact with a tree damaged his shoulder and dropped him out of podium contention.
While several of the favourites encountered trouble, rookie rider Sam Turnbull emerged as one of the stories of the race. Having purchased his 2021 Yamaha YZ250 just six weeks before the event, Turnbull steadily worked his way through the field to claim an impressive third outright.
Out front, Lleyton Mitchell and Nathan Evans became locked in a battle for victory. Evans, riding the former ADB Beta RX350 two-stroke test bike, stayed within striking distance of Mitchell throughout the race and looked set for a podium finish before disaster struck on the final lap.
