SIXTEEN-year-old Bjorn Cardenas has left hundreds of Australia’s most experienced off-road racers in his dust, after finishing 19th in the Tatts Finke Desert Race over the weekend.
The Swan Hill College student’s achievement places him as one of the youngest riders to break into the top 20 in history, and well among the sport’s most elite athletes.
The 460km race, known as the Finke, is spread over two days in the Northern Territory and regarded as one of the most gruelling off-road races in the world.
With top riders reaching speeds of more than 170km/h across rugged and often treacherous terrain, the race demands a combination of extreme mental fortitude and physical endurance.
Cardenas said he was stoked with the result, reaching top speeds of around 145km/h throughout the endurance race.
“Yeah, it was really good, a bit rough and choppy but it was all right,” he said.
“It’s very dry, dusty, temperature wise it wasn’t too hot but when you ride your eyes are burning and stuff.
“Most of the time you’re in the dust of other people.”
Swan Hill mechanic and farmer, Sam Monk, built Cardenas’ engine for the Finke.
“It’s a treacherous kind of race, it’s probably the most hairy race in Australia because of the rocks and tree roots; the track is extremely rough with corrugations and deep sand,” Monk said.
“It’s more of an endurance race, and because Bjorn’s so young he’s on a bike that’s literally half the size of everyone else and still managed to get in the top 20.
“He’s definitely put a lot of work in for it, and now it’s starting to pay off.”
More than 40 people were treated at the Alice Springs Hospital with injuries sustained in training and during the race, with one man being airlifted to Adelaide following a severe head injury.
Cardenas said a number of riders crashed before the event, which made him “a little” nervous.
“You have to focus, otherwise stuff starts going wrong,” he said.
“There was one close call on the way home, I hit a square edge and both my hands came off the handlebars at over 100km/h.
“I just had to grab them again and lucky the track was smooth so the bike stayed straight.”
The teenager put in an extensive amount of training on the track, travelling to Alice Springs for two pre-runs earlier in the year.
Each time Cardenas rode around 1000kms on the track, riding “pretty well every day”.
Monk, who worked on several bikes racing in the event, said engines had to be extra durable and reliable in the Finke.
“You need to make them last longer, be more reliable and a lot of horsepower gains as well,” Monk said.
“Mostly the engine just needed to be stronger to handle Bjorn’s riding ability, because I guess you can say he gives it a pretty hard time.”
The winner of the famed desert race was only around 20 minutes faster across both legs than Cardenas.
At just 16-years-old, the desert racer has pegged himself to be one to seriously watch in the future.
“One day (I might be able to win it), I’ll definitely be able to find a bit more time,” he said.
