The rider surprised himself and lot of others in 2015 when he placed 9th in his first Finke Desert Race.
Press Release
The 21 year old from Echuca in Victoria’s north walked away from Australia’s greatest desert race with a mighty big grin and desire to go one better.
With a solid result and a growing interest Davie found himself a supported ride through Sherco dealership Motorcycle Land Ballarat with backing from Sherco Australia. Davie took to the French brand of enduro bike quickly and is on track to tackle this year’s Finke Desert Race with more experience, more speed and more desire.
“The Sherco is a great bike,” said Davie. “It really is. It surprises me in so many ways. A lot of people are surprised with how fast it is. It’s has really strong bottom-end and mid-range power and the suspension is fantastic. We haven’t even had to spend time tuning it as it’s so good from the showroom floor.”
The Sherco is largely an unknown in the realm of desert racing, however, Australian Matthew Phillips currently leads the 2016 EnduroGP World Championship on a Sherco and the brand is enjoying rapid growth in Australia as a result. Now Davie plans to show the Sherco is just as good in the desert.
Davie is in Alice Springs making final preparations for the race which is held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, June 11-13 and taking cues from two-time Finke champion Rick Hall.
“Rick is a legend of a bloke and has been sharing some great information,” Davie continued. “You just can’t buy the kind of knowledge that someone like Rick Hall can offer.”
The combination of Davie’s raw speed, invaluable local knowledge from Hall and a bike that’s incredibly well suited to desert conditions is proving to be an eyebrow raiser.
“Sam’s preparations are tracking well,” explained Sherco Australia’s Stephen Tuff. “The bike has required very little to prepare it for the desert. The engine is strong and it’s incredible to have a bike handle so well in these extreme conditions with nothing more than a few turns of the screwdriver. Here’s hoping Sam has a lot of fun and a little bit of luck this year which should see him in the thick of the action.”
Davie will take to the track for the first time on Saturday June 11 where the official race prologue will determine the start order for the race on Sunday June 12.
