Queen of the Desert
MORIAC’S Danielle Foot, 19, has her sights set on being the No.1 female at next month’s Hattah Desert Race in Mildura.
MORIAC teenager Danielle Foot has her sights set on being the No.1 female at next month’s Hattah Desert Race in Mildura after claiming the title at this month’s Finke event in the Northern Territory.
Foot, 19, finished third in her 250cc class in the gruelling two-day motocross race, in which she clocked two hours 54 minutes from Alice Springs to Finke and then two hours 47 minutes return the next day.
She also finished 57th of about 600 competitors, and was the only female to finish in the top 100.
“I was really thrilled just to make it home this year,” Foot said.
“Last year I obviously didn’t make it home due to an injury pretty early in the race, so I was super happy to just make it past the finish line this year. Obviously the results made the victory a bit sweeter.
“Having to go after that 250 class for the last three years, it was a bit tough not being able to finish last year, so I was really happy to get on the box again.
“Still chasing that (class) win but it will come when it comes.”
It was her fourth attempt at the Finke, but next month’s Hattah event will be her eighth annual pilgrimage.
“It’s my favourite race of the year; I’ve always loved that,” she said.
“The main focus in 2019 was definitely Finke and Hattah. It’s completely different to any other racing in Australia.
“I’ll be going for the win in the women’s class. I’ve missed out the last two years; Megan Rutledge comes down for it, she’s pretty fast, she’s got multiple world classes and championships in Australia, so she’s definitely the one to beat.
“It’s going to be a pretty packed class but my confidence is still running from Finke.”
Foot finished third last year, two weeks after surgery on a broken collarbone suffered at Finke.
“It was definitely something I needed to do for myself to race,” she said.
“It was pretty hard to do it for the whole four hours, but I’m really happy that I finished it and still happy I got on the podium for the women’s.”