Ducati DesertX to take on Tatts Finke Rally with no refuelling

DUCATI is set to launch its mid-weight off-roader into another dirt-bike challenge, as the Ducati DesertX will attempt to complete the Tatts Fink Desert Race course. There and back in less than 24 hours and on a single tank of fuel.

This is a teaser for the video, the full video will be getting released in the coming weeks.

Well, we say single, although a better description would be to say without refuelling, as the bike chosen to undertake the challenge is fitted with Ducati’s long-range auxiliary fuel tank mounted in the seat unit of the machine. Still, 460km (285 miles), across the desert, without refuelling and in under 24 hours - it’s not a test to be taken lightly.

The attempt isn’t being made in racing conditions, unlike the Erzbergrodeo hard enduro event from last month and it’s probably a good thing. The Tatts Fink race is one of the toughest desert races on the planet and takes place in the inhospitable Australian desert. The event sees competitors race between the towns of Alice Springs and Finke, and while this DesertX run took place two weeks after the official race, that alone posed some challenges as the course was heavily rutted and cut up from the racing prior.

Taking on the course for the challenge was Ducati DRE Adventure Academy Chief Instructor, Nick Selleck, and his reaction to crossing the line re-affirms how tough the challenge was.

“It was a big relief in so many ways to cross the finish line,” he said. “Not just because of the fact that we made the entire 460 km distance using only the factory fuel tanks, but that the bike fared so well in such brutal terrain. In fact, I didn’t have to lay a spanner on the bike all week, except for making clicker adjustments to the standard suspension!”.

Ducati DesertX on the off-road video review