Finke Desert Race organizers reach settlement over 2021 fatal crash

On By Online Niel

Organizers of the Finke Desert Race have settled a lawsuit over a 2021 crash that left one spectator dead and another seriously injured.

The resolution was reached last month with the Northern Territory Motor Accident Compensation Commission (MACC) in the NT Supreme Court.

As part of the settlement, Finke Desert Race Incorporated and governing body Motorsport Australia (MSA) reached an agreement without admitting liability for the incident.

Canberra retiree Nigel Harris, 60, died in June 2021 when a competing trophy truck veered off the track and into a group standing at a popular spectator stand 35 kilometers from the finish line.

In an order filed in August, the MACC claimed that spectator Robert Mudd was entitled to more than $170,000 to cover his ongoing medical expenses after suffering “multiple lower body fractures” in the crash that left him require a total hip replacement and other surgeries.

An elderly man kneels in the desert and lines up a shot with a long lens camera.

Nigel Harris was a keen photographer. (Provided by: Peter Hayson)

The MACC sought an order that the race organizers compensate the commission for those costs, as well as interest and legal fees.

The commission claimed that both organizers “breached their duty of care by failing to take reasonable precautions for the safety of spectators”.

An MSA spokesman told the ABC on Wednesday that the matter was finalized in November with a formal statement of discontinuance by the commission.

“Motorsport Australia is pleased to have reached a resolution on a non-admission basis,” the spokesman said.

An elderly man with close-cropped hair sits in a dimly lit room. He's wearing a dark Finke Desert Race branded sweater.

Antony Yoffa has been involved in the Finke Desert Race for more than two decades. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)

Payment “between insurers”

Earlier this year, long-time Finke Desert Race chairman Antony Yoffa revealed that the 2023 event had run at a loss and that he was concerned about its sustainability.

He told the ABC the deal would not have a significant impact on the organisation’s finances.

“There was (a financial settlement paid) but it was between insurers,” Mr Yoffa said.

Neither MSA nor Mr. Yoffa provided details on the settlement figure reached.

The 230km race through the treacherous desert of Central Australia has been called the toughest off-road race in the world.

In the filing, the MACC alleged that both organizations failed to take “any, or, alternatively, any reasonable steps” to limit or control access to the racetrack and discourage spectators from standing close to the track.

Police officers in high visibility vests stand inside (next to a flatbed truck with a racing buggy on it.

Accident investigators are inspecting the vehicle involved in the fatal crash. (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)

In June 2023, a coronial inquest into Mr Harris’s death found that measures to protect spectators from known significant risks were “grossly inadequate”.

The inquiry found that the MSA and the Finke committee had been aware of the “extreme” danger posed by spectators for years, but had done “little or nothing” to mitigate the risks.

The findings were made public days before last year’s Finke Desert Race, which continued with new safety measures, including a minimum 30m spectator retreat from the track and restricted areas.

MACC did not respond to requests for comment.