Norton manages career best at Finke

LORNE resident and motocross athlete Callum Norton finally secured his dream run at the Finke Desert Race over the King’s Birthday long weekend, securing a podium finish on his fifth attempt.

Norton (03:37:42) fell victim to mechanical issues in 2022 but bounced back from a disappointing ride last year to place second outright in 2023.

Norton trailed only David Walsh in the race to be crowned King of the Desert, who beat Norton by two-and-a-half minutes.

“I was stoked, it was such a massive effort from everyone over the weekend, and over the past five years, really,” Norton said.

“This year, particularly, we put a lot of work into this race. I made six trips up to the Alice Springs prior to the race for practice runs, so to cross the finish line in second made me really happy.”

Held annually, the Finke Desert Race is a 460km off-road, multi-terrain two-day race for bikes, cars and buggies, from Alice Springs to the small Aputula (Finke) community, then back.

The STE Racing representative had placed fifth on two previous occasions and failed to complete Finke twice before this year’s race.

Norton managed a clean run on his 2023 KTM 500 bike to record his best finish of his career, but the experienced 22-year-old is not settling for second best in 2024.

“I’ll definitely be back next year looking for that top spot, but it’s one of those things where there are always new riders coming through putting in the work,” he said.

“We’ll just keep pushing and hopefully go one place better next year.”

Norton credited his racing team STE Racing led by Jason Stewart, which is based in Mildura where he trains throughout the year.