Alice Springs off road racers Dan Auricht and Grant Connelly are ready to take on the best off road racers Australia can muster at the running of Round 2 of the Australian Off Road Championship next weekend. Auricht and Connelly are the talent behind the True Build Racing team and will use the local support to their advantage, in an effort to lock in their first Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race victory.
Auricht has a long standing history with the iconic event with his best outright finish in 2010, driving the Jimco Aussie Spec Pro buggy into third outright.
Currently sitting in fourth place with 10 points on the 2011 AORC scoreboard, the True Build Racing teams approach to the event is twofold; to tame the iconic Finke track, claiming outright victory and to bank as many championship points as they can for their all-out assault on the 2011 Australian Off Road Championship crown.
“The handling of the car is a big improvement on last year’s car and with the experience gained from the 2010 Finke we know if we have a trouble free run we can improve on our race time” said Connelly.
The Jimco has been put through a rigorous maintenance and testing schedule since Easter with the crew content with their preparations. Many locals have provided a hand especially Dan Bartell whose vast mechanical knowledge has helped to iron out any last minute niggles. With the hard work now done, the buggy is back in the workshop undergoing final race preparations.
Auricht and Connelly are all too aware of what they’re up against, with a field of 99 tough competitors set to take to the track, including three times back to back Finke victor and current Australian Off Road Champion David Fellows. Fellows will be hard to beat, but the True Build Racing team are confident they have the package to get them to the finish line and outright glory.
“This season we have changed to King Shocks and they handled extremely well straight out of the box at Hyden, but with those famous Finke whoops we knew we had to do some fine tuning. We were lucky to have Brad Zacka from King Shocks Australia come out to give us a hand in fine tuning the new shocks, with big improvements made we feel confident to take them on” said Auricht.
Auricht and Connelly have the added pressure of putting on a good showing for their local supporters and sponsors, something that the team will take in their stride as they race the 220km track from Alice Springs to Finke and back next weekend.
The True Build Racing team are proudly supported by:
True Build Constructions • Autosparky • Craig Carrison Race Engines • Holcim Alice Springs • Signmaster • Alice Paint and Panel • GGS Alice Glass & Aluminium • Neptune Fibreglass • Racer Imports • G & S Transport • Dallas Spears Sheet Metal Works • Tony Byrnes • Sporties Cafe & Restaurant • Jack Weld • Mick Ackerman • Chris Auricht • Phil Hateley • Kane Naaraat – kaneophoto.com • TZ Tuning
Author: Julie Rogers – Off Road Racing Information Services: Media Desk
Photographer: Kane Naaraat – kanephoto.com