Vendetta Racing UAE
Vendetta racing heads down-under.
Blackney to race in the fabled Finke rally.
There’s a score to settle for former Motocross Champion and Vendetta Racing rider, Steve Blackney who, almost a decade after his final race on UAE soil, is heading to Australia this week for the famous Finke Desert Race.
Blackney, a long-time Dubai resident, is a familiar figure on the Middle East racing circuit and has an international racing career spanning decades of competition, both on and off-road.
Blackney is now focused on adding one final challenge to his long list of accomplishments.
“I have previously raced in four Australian Safari rallies,” said the 53 year-old, “each one being a 9-day day challenge across the incredible Australian outback, a major undertaking as a private competitor. It’s been a mixed bag - two went really well, one went reasonably well and during one, in 2003, I broke my pelvis so you could say it went less well.”
“I reckon I’ve got one more event left in me yet, and as Australia has always been a favorite place to race it’s time to go back down-under for one last shout”.
Blackney is a veteran at adapting his preparation for different challenges, having made the transition from off road to tarmac for a second racing career that included the UAE 600 and 1000 Sportsbike series, the UK Endurance series and ultimately two Isle of Man Manx GPs. Now he is once again adjusting his training for his foray back to Australia.
In preparation for the June 6-9 Finke, a two-day, 440km bone-jarring charge over fast, bumpy, twisty desert terrain starting and finishing at Alice Springs, Blackney is undertaking an intense program of cardio, weight training and on-bike sessions at Mx Ride XDubai, the punishing 6km desert terrain circuit founded by champion UAE rider, Mohammed Al Balooshi. https://www.xdubai.com/en/mx-ride
“The Finke is renowned for being two hard days of extremely bumpy and sandy trails, so to get ready I have switched my riding from weekend desert rides to more specific terrain,” said Blackney. “The Balooshi track is perfect for building up the right kind of resistance to get race ready.”
He may not have raced in the UAE sands since 2016, but Blackney has kept his eye in through excursions to the 2019 Gotland Grand National, an endurance race over bottomless mud in Sweden as well as the famous Weston Beach race in Weston-super-Mare, UK last year.
“These days I try to complete one bucket-list challenge per year and focusing more on having fun and adapting to the challenge bucket list races than podium finishes” he said. “I’m too old to be winning much these days, but there is still a fire burning within me to compete, and I’ll be aiming for a decent showing in my class at the Finke.”
Accompanying Blackney on his challenge is Vendetta Racing’s principle and founder, Alan Boyter, who last year piloted “Priscilla” a Dubai built and designed land-speed record bike, on the Bonneville salt flats in Utah.
Boyter returned to Dubai with a measured mile average speed of 182.5mph and a top speed of 188mph and will be heading back to Bonnevile in September for a crack at the Southern California Timing Association record of 192.993mph.
“Vendetta Racing is a privately run motorcyle racing team that was founded in 2007,” said Boyter. “We have a stable of awesome riders including Steve and over the years we have been fortunate to tick off a lot of big races and events both domestically and overseas.
“We’ve had incredible success and often challenged many of the higher budget and in some cases full factory teams in major races such as Dakar, the UAE Desert Challenge and the FIM International Bajas.”
The Finke Desert Race will be a first Australian race on Vendetta’s long list of accomplishments and Boyter is hopeful of a competitive race from his rider.
“The Finke is a different kind of race than we have attempted in the past,” he said. “This is a head-long, high speed blast over extremely rough terrain which will make it a very demanding two days, which I know Steve is working hard to prepare for physically.
“That said, Steve has been riding and racing offroad for more than four decades, so he certainly has the experience to do well. He has also experienced similar tracks in Australia so I am confident he will hold his own. He always commits 100 per cent to every race he enters so we are just looking forward to this new challenge for Vendetta.”
Follow Blackney’s progress on Insta: @vendettaracinguae, via the Vendetta website: www/vendettaracinguae.com or at the Finke website:
https://finkedesertrace.com.au/
