"There is so much to off-road racing: sleepless nights, heartbreak, and blood, sweat and tears. Attack the Dirt takes you as far behind the scenes of trophy trucks as anyone has been allowed to go."
The Finke Desert Race (pronounced "fink" or "finkie" depending on who you ask) is a hard-charing point-to-point sprint across the sandbox that is central Australia. Trophy trucks, buggies, and motorcycles all spend one day racing down, and the next day racing back to the start for a total of about 285 miles.
The course is loose, bouncy, very tight, and extremely dynamic. I've spectated in person and ridden parts of the "track" myself– it's one of the wildest rides in off-road racing anywhere and this video does a great job capturing the action and emotion of the event.
Here's the full-length (21 minute) movie, as originally aired on Australian TV channel 7Mate:
The video's sponsored by Toyo Tires, focusing on their team driver Brad Gallard and #454 trophy truck. The won in 2012 but had a tragic mechanical failure in 2013 that kept them from defending the title. For 2014, they're determined to hit back hard.
"This is a sport I believe in and I'm determined to help it grow. This documentary is a giant step forward in increasing its profile and telling the story of how we got to where we are," said Gallard.
Director Allan Hardy adds: "A roll-over, broken suspension arm or a mechanical failure might seem like problems you can overcome with a good old 'well that's racing', but every hit these trucks take hit the driver, the navigator and the supporting team even harder. These guys bleed off-roading."
Fun fact: the race gets its name because it crosses the Finke river; believed to be the oldest river in the world.
Images: Toyo Tires