There’s no place like an Australian desert race and the Kalgoorlie desert track in Western Australia is nothing short of a wonderous, magical place. This remote desert track is one of the most isolated in our great land, yet not far from Australia’s largest outback town.
Grabbo, King of the West in 2022, brought the KTM IP Race Experience to Kalgoorlie in October while chasing the #1 position for a second consecutive year. There’s something unique about Kalgoorlie that has made Grabbo put this race permanently on the KTM VIP Race calendar.
‘There’s deep sand sections, massive high speed clay pans, big hills and pretty much everything you can think of. This race track can be dusty, hard work, and fast - but not Finke fast.’ For those who know - that’s still fast!
‘For me, it’s definitely the best fun desert layout of a track we ride. It’s a combination of a bit of everything, it’s got a bit of Finke in it, a bit of Don River and Hattah. I like mixing up my riding and that combination is what I want to give to our VIP customers.’
There was one lucky VIP Racer on the team, Jack from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, who had the honour of having Grabbo’s attention and expertise all to himself. What a race Jack experienced, finishing outright in 7th position, while Grabbo maintained the #1 position claiming King of the West for 2023.
Here’s what Jack had to say: ‘I highly recommend the service from Grabbo, the equipment they provide is top level. It was pretty difficult, fair mix of terrain, fast and tight stuff, and square-edge holes. It’s an unbelievable package. I was treated like a rock star the whole time.’
One 121km lap was completed when the bike component of the race was cut short due to tragic circumstances. There are no lost souls on the desert track, as our heartfelt thoughts will forever go out to the rider and our riding community.
Kalgoorlie desert race wraps up this year’s VIP Race Experience event series.
Stay tuned for some exciting additions and changes to the VIP Experience to be announced later this year.