Kamfari would have to be up there as one of the most unique and typically Aussie race events on the calendar, and this year was not only one of the wettest Kamfari races on record, it was also the 40^th anniversary of this iconic top end mud race. With two completely separate tracks set up only days before the event, one for quads and another for our two wheeled cousins, spectators in their hundreds converged on the Gunn Point area just out of Darwin to be part of this crazy event.

There is obviously some level of home town advantage for those who ride in this sort of terrain on a weekly basis, but nothing prepared even the locals for the extreme amount of water on the course, caused by unusually high rainfalls in the past months, measured up there in metres, not millimetres like down south. Three metres is a lot of rainfall to disperse through even the massive mangrove areas surrounding the Darwin area.

The team from 47industries had not been to Kamfari since 2009, which was one of the driest races on record, so this year was like the first time again for us, and we were in for a treat.

We were on a mission to try and discover what it takes to race and finish the dreaded Kamfari, and to be honest, we still don't really know. Plenty of practice in this kind of terrain is obviously going to help, but luck also plays a pretty major part. When you race through black mud up to 9 feet deep in parts, with old broken tree stumps hidden below the murky surface, it takes a lot of luck to miss all of the race finishing obstacles, as 27 of the original 38 starters discovered. For example, Dominic Santopietro from Adelaide spent tireless hours and dollars prepping his super impressive Kawasaki Brute Force Mud Racer for the event, to not even complete the first lap. This race is pretty tough on the riders, but hell on the machines. This is in direct contrast to say the Thumb Pump 300 where there were virtually no mechanical failures, but plenty of DNF's from riders who had just had enough of beating themselves up through the relentless sandy whoops.

So back to Kamfari, and when we walked through the pit's pre event it was interesting to see some of the setups. Factory snorkel kits were there, but more often than not, home made snorkel kits were manufactured in back yard workshops out of whatever you could get your hands on. Anything from white PVC plumbing pipe to bits of mum's vacuum cleaner hose were commandeered to help keep the muddy water out of air boxes, CVT's and fuel systems.

The deep muddy billabongs were one of the main obstacles and having to pick a line through the thin trees was quite a challenge in some spots. It was usually easier to get through if you avoided running with the existing ruts and actually zig-zagged across them. It wasn't pretty to watch, but if it meant you got through to the other side without having to winch or dig out your quad, it was worth the extra effort.

Other sections, which caused probably most of the delays for riders, were just thick black mud. When you bellied out in this stuff it was often up to half an hour before you got any forward progress at all. If you had a winch you might have been all right, that is if you could find a strong enough tree in front of you to winch from. If not, which was often the case, it was simply a matter of getting off the quad and lifting her out of the ruts. This sometimes worked, but in some spots when you lifted the rear grab bar, the quad stayed put and you just pushed yourself down waist deep into the thick black soup. Not a nice predicament to be in on such a nice Sunday afternoon out riding with your mates.

Fortunately for the spectators present, and there were hundreds of them too I might add, one of the most exciting sections to view the track was the final creek crossing located about 20 metres from the finish line check point....directly in front of all of the spectators. As the race rolled on and the track became ever more difficult, this little quiet creek crossing became the scene of many a roll over, much to the amusement of the cheering crowd. Colin Lawson went for a swim down stream at one stage, chasing his inverted Outlander 800, while  fellow North Queenslander Adrian Hermsen actually pinned himself under his machine for a while, before Kicking the big girl back onto her wheels and surfacing for a big breath of air.

If you have seen the American videos of Blackwater and other such events, well this is as close as you can get to that Down Under. Why not commit now to make the treck up to Darwin and race it yourself next year. Go out to your shed, drag out the old farm quad, dig out the off cuts from that plumbing job you did last year, go to your mum's vacuum cleaner like a crazed ninja with an old Stanley knife and build yourself the best damn mud racer the planet ever saw. Who knows, you might just finish the first lap!

Mick@47

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