For Alice Springs local and Finke or Forget It team member Timothy Button, motorsport is as prevalent in his life as the town’s heat.
The 23-year-old off road competitor is once again entered to compete in the Tatts Finke Desert Race, building his entry vehicle from scratch and hopeful of a race finish in 2026.
The milestone 50th Anniversary Finke Desert Race to take place over the King’s Birthday Long Weekend from 5-8 June will be Button’s sixth, which dates back to his event debut in 2019.
Button, similar to all of his prior appearances, will be navigated by his sister Elizabeth in their Rush Truck Hush 6000 CC, forming one of the 31 machines in the Extreme 2WD category.
Having debuted as the youngest competitor of the 2019 edition at just 16 years of age, Button has completed in a variety of machines.
Over the years he has driven a 1999 Subaru Brumby, a Hunter Rivmasta Toyota 1600 CC and a Buggy Slow One 2000 CC to name a few.
Button’s unique entry process came about from a budget-saving measure as a working apprentice.
“We bought this year’s Trophy Truck as an unfinished project, so we’ve had to pretty much redesign the chassis and replaced a lot of stuff on it,” said Button.
“The reason going about it this way, I suppose, was the money I had available as an apprentice, so I was on a very tight budget.
“So, doing it all myself as much as I can is to try and save my pennies. We’ll still have a crack, it’s a lot of fun to pull together the truck this way, and the sense of achievement after finishing the event with a car you’ve put together is an awesome one.”
Button is acutely aware of the 50-year milestone setting the background for this year’s race, eager to test his mettle against some of the best off road crews the nation has to offer.
“I’m definitely really keen, obviously, there’s a lot of build-up around this year’s event and there’s definitely an expectation this is one of the bigger years of the event’s history,” Button added.
“I’m really keen to be part of it and see how we go and Alice Springs is a motorsport-mad town, Lizzie loves riding along with me.
“She’s a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but everyone sort of gets on board and gets behind it all, which is good.”
Button has only finished the annual race once in his event history, placing 70th outright and third in class among the Super 1650 Buggies in 2023.
He stated the main goal for 2026 is again to get to the start line, with the ultimate goal to cross the finish line for the second time.
The 50th annual Tatts Finke Desert Race runs on the King’s Birthday long weekend, June 4-8.
