West Australian Travis Robinson has set the fastest time in the Cars Prologue which decides the start order for the 2017 Tatts Finke Desert Race.
Finke and navigator Trent Anthony lapped the 8.3km Prologue track in an impressive 4:50.1s in their #13 Jimco OBR Nissan 3500cc, significantly better than last year’s Prologue benchmark of 5:12s achieved by Jack Rhodes.
“It was a good run today; we kept it steady,” said Robinson.
“We rolled it here in Prologue last year so we took it easy and we were lucky enough to come away with the win.
“It’s good and bad being in front in this race,” he added of leading the field out to Finke.
“It’s not like a lap race where you can catch the car in front and then cruise because you know where the field is.
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“Here you can drive too hard and break it, or just manage it to get to Finke but you don’t know where the rest of the competitors are so its a tricky one with strategy.
“It’s going to be dusty and very rough but we will do what we usually do and hopefully we can get down and back.”
The four times Finke winners Shannon and Ian Rentsch (#33 Jimco Nissan 3500cc) of Victoria finished second-fastest, ahead of South Australians Jack Rhoades/David Pullino (#1 Jimco Aussie Special Nissan 3500cc).
Beau Robinson, who finished third outright in the 2016 Finke, was the other man to lap the Prologue under five minutes with navigator Shane Hutt (#413 Geiser Bros Trophy Truck Chev 6000cc),
Each of the top four clocked times under five minutes, while Greg Gartner/Jamie Jennings were half a second outside that bracket in fifth.
Former Dakar and five-time Finke Bikes winner Toby Price, who finished runner-up in Cars in the 2016 Finke, was seventh-fastest to start his Cars-only campaign of 2017.
Last year’s Tatts Finke Desert Race-winning Car crew of Glenn Owen/Mathew Ryan ran 11th fastest.
The 130-strong field of cars will make the 226km journey from Alice Spring to the overnight stop at Finke tomorrow from 0715 local time, before returning on Monday.
VIDEO: Race preview and prologue
Top 10: Prologue: Cars, 2017 Tatts Finke Desert Race
| Pos | Class | Car | Sponsor/Competitor | Driver/Co-Driver/Navigator | Vehicle | Time | Gap To Leader |
| 1 | Pro | 13 | OBR/Travis Robinson | Travis Robinson (WA)/Trent Anthony | Jimco OBR Nissan 3500CC | 00:04:50.1 | |
| 2 | Pro | 33 | SR Racing/Shannon Rentsch | Shannon Rentsch (VIC)/Ian Rentsch (VIC) | Jimco Buggy Nissan 3500CC | 00:04:53.4 | +00:00:03.3 |
| 3 | Pro | 1 | Rhodes Racing – #91/Jack Rhodes | Jack Rhodes (SA)/David Pulino (SA) | Jimco Aussie Special Nissan 3500CC | 00:04:55.5 | +00:00:05.4 |
| 4 | X2WD | 413 | OBR/Beau Robinson | Beau Robinson (WA)/Shane Hutt (NSW) | Geiser Bros Trophy Truck Chev 6000CC | 00:04:59.5 | +00:00:09.4 |
| 5 | X2WD | 410 | Greg Gartner Motorsports/Greg Gartner | Greg Gartner (SA)/Jamie Jennings (SA)/Mark HannaFord | Ford F150 Ford 5900CC | 00:05:00.5 | +00:00:10.4 |
| 6 | X2WD | 454 | Gallard454/Brad Gallard | Brad Gallard (SA)/Scott Modistach (SA)/Kyle Pfitzner | Geiser Trophy Truck Chev 6CC | 00:05:01.1 | +00:00:11.0 |
| 7 | X2WD | 487 | Toby Price Racing/Toby Price | Toby Price (QLD)/Luke Hendry | Geiser 2015 Chev 6000CC | 00:05:02.6 | +00:00:12.5 |
| 8 | Pro | 88 | Rob Hawker | Chris Coulthard (SA)/Robert Hawker (WA)/Robert Hawker (WA) | Jimco 2000 Chev 6CC | 00:05:04.6 | +00:00:14.5 |
| 9 | ProLite | 135 | Mowles Motorsport/Andrew Mowles | Andrew Mowles (NT)/Matthew Morgan (NT) | Razorback 2010 Nissan 3500CC | 00:05:05.5 | +00:00:15.4 |
| 10 | Pro | 21 | Mark Burrows | Mark Burrows (VIC)/Colin Hodge (NSW) | Jimco 2012 Holden 3500CC | 00:05:06.1 | +00:00:16.0 |
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