Perfect weather and track conditions greeted the 63 nominated teams today at day one of the ARB Paringa Desert 400, held 50km north of Broken Hill on Paringa Station.

Glenn Owen and Matt Ryan #30 secured pole position for today’s race one after blitzing the 11km prologue course, 2 seconds ahead of Jack Rhodes and David Pullino #91.

Rounding out the prologue podium was the Mark Burrow and Colin Hodge #21, 7 seconds off the pace of Owen.

Andy Brown and Dale Martin slotted the Saber #45 into fourth with Greg Gartner and Jamie Jennings clocking-in in fifth place, after putting on a spectacular finish, two wheeling it through the corners as they pushed for winning time, much to the pleasure of the crowd.

Danny Brown, in the debut run of his recently purchased ex John Hederick Jimco #42 limped back to the pits with mechanical dramas, while James Madden suffered a broken axle in the Razorback #81. Sam Gadaleta #38 had a flat tyre while Daniel Maybery failed to greet the start line with gearbox issues.

Teams are now preparing for race one, a 75km lap through the Australian outback, which will test the endurance of both man and machine. Follow the live results for the ARB Paringa Desert 400 here

Photographer: Van Nixon