Although a year ago James wasn’t able to enter the race, he began formulating a plan to participate after seeing it first hand.

His family took a road trip last year to offer support to fellow Mudgee riders who had entered into the 2016 Finke race and to see first hand what the event was like.

James was excited by the event, with the family deeming it “fantastic”, and the young Mudgee boy started planning to make his racing dream happen.

Finke itself is a desert race, starting at Alice Springs across 226kms of rough terrain to Finke.

It is in its 42nd year and has had record entries for this year’s fixture, so much so the field has been increased from 550 bikes to 650.

According to Rob Cutrupi, James’ father and coach, James has shown outstanding commitment to this race with great preparation with diet, training and most of all attitude.

With just one month before race day, James is well and truly on track to achieve a good result.

With the expert guidance of Keira at Active Health Solutions Mudgee (AHSM) James will be fit and ready for the 226km race to Finke, with a goal of completing it in 3 hours, then up and ready to go the next day to complete another 226km back home to Alice Springs. 

In response to the faith shown in James, he is hoping for a solid race result, to do his family and support crew proud, before returning to Mudgee to share the stories from his 2017 achievement.