By KATH GANNAWAY
LAUNCHING Place dirt-bike rider, Haylee Malan, will have a great fan-base behind her as she tackles one of the most gruelling rides in Australia in June.
The 20-year-old is an integration aide at Yarra Junction Primary School and is studying to become a teacher.
Her goal to complete the 452-kilometre desert race from Alice Springs to Finke and back is getting her some serious street-cred with the students and teachers.
Promoted as ‘the most fun you can have with a helmet on’, and with a reputation as one of the most difficult off-road courses in one of the remote places in the world, the two-day Tatts Finke Desert Race is a multi-terrain event for bikes, cars, buggies and quads that attracts competitors from around the world.
Haylee is no newcomer to dirt-bike riding, starting at a young age and coming from a family which revels in the sport.
She rides competitively with the Motor Cycle Racing Club of Victoria, and in 2012 finished second in the Victorian Titles Open Women’s Class.
The Finke isn’t her first big race – In 2012 and 2013 she completed the Hattah Desert Race – but it is the biggest.
With her CRF250 bike primed for the race, she will line up in open section over the Queen’s Birthday weekend.
She said she signed on for the Finke to challenge herself and fulfil a goal to compete in an event that demanded a lot.
“My biggest challenge with this one will probably be endurance, because it’s such a long distance, and it’s over such tough ground,” she said.
Haylee said she had a great group of sponsors from her dad’s company, Malan Engineering to local businesses Eastern Big Twin and Gr8 Coffee, but was keen to get more Yarra Valley sponsors on board for the event.
Anyone who would like to help can contact Haylee on 0437 442 704.
