When visiting the Birdsville Roadhouse, it’s not unusual to see Barnes’y or his son, Sam, working on one of their offroad racing buggies. For 30 years, Barnes’y has been racing everything from sand buggies to Suzuki Sierras, Landcruisers and Falcon utes, completing three epic Australian Safari offroad races along the way.
2004 marked the beginning of a highly competitive period in their racing – that year they won their national class championship, the legendary Finke Desert Race and the South Australian state outright championship in their Suzuki-powered 1300cc buggy. That car also led them to win their class championship for the next three years running, missing out in 2008 but reclaiming their title in 2009. 2006 and 2009 also saw them win their class at Finke, an impressive achievement.
In 2010, both Barnes’y and Sam took a year off racing to develop their new buggy, a Nissan 350z-powered prolite buggy, which they now race.
Barnes’y and Sam would like to thank their sponsors; Jaycar Electronics, Phillip’s Foote Restaurant, Birdsville Roadhouse, Krakka Fabrication and Millicent Tyre Centre for their generous support.
