Ford outlasts Chevrolet at 2024 Finke Desert Race

A new chapter in the rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet was added this past weekend in the Northern Territory when they squared off at the legendary Finke Desert Race. Both manufacturers provided factory support for Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer Brad Lovell and Supercars Championship great Craig Lowndes, whose vehicles suffered greatly in the Australian desert. By the end, the Blue Oval came out on top in the Production 4WD class for the second straight year.

Lovell and his son Byam Lovell returned to Finke with their Ford Ranger Raptor, which set the Finke-to-Alice Springs course record in 2023 en route to the class victory. The truck, which also won its class at the 2022 and 2023 Baja 1000, arrived in Australia with some upgrades to the damper calibration but otherwise retains much of the same anatomy as its street counterpart. Meanwhile, Lowndes made his Finke début in the Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 Off-Road Racer after running just the Prologue in 2021; the seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner and thrice Supercars champion last ran an off-road event of any kind in 2011. Dakar Rally navigator Dale Moscatt called the shots for Lowndes.

General Motors and Ford Performance basically threw the kitchen sink into their programmes for the race, each depending on support from companies in Australia and the United States. Walkinshaw Performance, the performance division of Supercars team Walkinshaw Andretti United, and Huseman Engineering (once led by the late short course star Rick Huseman) were responsible for preparing the Ranger. Opposite them, General Motors Specialty Vehicles, Chevrolet Racing, and Hall Racing (owned by Chad Hall, a Chevrolet partner and the son of Baja legend Rod Hall) oversaw the Silverado ZR2 Off-Road Racer’s development from concept car to reality.

Lowndes held the early advantage when he beat Lovell by eight seconds in the Prologue, and the margin continued to grow during the first leg when he recorded the fastest run from Finke to Alice Springs with a time of 2:56.692. Lovell’s Day 1, on the other hand, was marred by a myriad of mechanical issues such as the damper overheating, the drive mode malfunctioning, and the brakes coming apart. Although he reached Finke with a broken left-rear suspension, Lovell only trailed Lowndes by four minutes and twenty-four seconds.

Vehicle gremlins claimed Lowndes as well on the second and final day when the upper control arm ball joint broke just thirty-nine kilometres in. Unlike his rival, the damage to the Chevrolet’s front suspension was terminal and forced him to retire. With Lowndes out of the picture, Lovell cruised to the class victory as its only finisher; Norman Parker was entered in a Toyota Land Cruiser 76 series but exited in the first leg.

“The run to Finke from Alice Springs was extremely testing, but we knew early on we had the pace required to win if we played our cards right,” said Lovell. “Starting the second day the pressure was on, and we had a job to do chasing down the Chevy guys. We made great pace as soon as we started, with the Ranger Raptor running flawlessly.

“Craig and the Chevy guys really kept us on our toes all weekend. It was fantastic to have some strong competition out there, and I hope that more people join the fun in the coming years.”

Despite coming up short, Lowndes certainly had a great experience in the truck.

“It’s been a hell of a journey for me because it’s my first time,” he explained. “It’s been great to support the GMSV crew. It’s a two-year programme in the making and I’m very privileged to pilot it. We got two of the three stages; we got Prologue, we got the run down, we just didn’t quite get the final stage.”

Lovell’s time ranked him sixty-sixth among all cars that took part. With Toby Price opting against going for a four-peat as he basked in the glory of his Baja 500 victory the week prior (he is also no longer a works driver for Mitsubishi), Beau Robinson claimed his maiden Finke triumph. He defeated Billy Geddes by five minutes.

David Walsh scored his fifth bike victory in a row, tying him with Randall Gregory (1991 to 1995) for the longest win streak on the two-wheel side. With one more win, Walsh would also tie Price for the most at Finke on a motorcycle. After completing his race, he flew back to the start to double as navigator for Brent Smoothy‘s truck, though they failed to finish.

Class winners

Cars

Bikes