Damien Nicol, with the help of Colac-based navigator, finished top-20 overall in the cars section on debut.

They crossed the line 15th overall and placed sixth in the trophy track class.

They were among three south-west teams in the top-20.

Father-and-son duo Ian and Shannon Rentsch and brothers Tyler and Max Owen also competed in the multi-terrain, two-day race's car section.

The Rentschs - six-time past winners - finished fourth overall and second in the pro-buggy class.

The Owens were fifth outright and third in the pro-buggy class.

Australian racing legend and Dakar Rally winner Toby Price - at home on a motorbike or rally car - took out overall honours in the car section.

Nicol said he and Percy qualified poorly in 56^th but slowly worked their way up the field.

The race, which starts in Alice Springs and requires an overnight stop in Finke to give racers a reprieve from the mental and physical challenge, covers 229 kilometres each way with difficult terrain one of its draw-cards.

"It was a good challenge. The track itself is a pretty nasty track to race on," he said.

"It destroys a lot of cars. I think we might go back one day.

"I don't know when, it's a pretty expensive race. "

Nicol, who built his own car, and Percy completed the day one stretch in one hour and 57 minutes and day two in 1.55.

"We made it to Finke in 20^th position and made it back home in 15^th," he said.

"I was hoping for top-20 but I wasn't sure if I could get there because it's a bloody good field.

"There was a lot of dollars' worth of equipment we were up against.

"We run a fraction of a budget to most of the other teams so I was pretty happy to place where we did."

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