No Primal Quest This Year

Rob Howard / 21.03.2005

After some months of speculation about the future of Primal Quest, an announcement has confirmed there will be no race in 2005, an outcome which seemed increasingly likely as the months passed with no date announcement.

The statement does contain the more positive news that Primal Quest LLC plans to run the next race in ‘early 2006’, but it will be ‘under new management’, as race founders Dan Barger and Maria Burton are moving on, and will no longer be involved with the race. The split was described as “mutual and decidedly amicable”.

There had been little or no news coming from Primal Quest since the conclusion of last year’s race, which will be remembered for the tragic death of Australian racer Nigel Aylott during the competition. Naturally, this was a traumatic event for all concerned with the race, and it’s likely to have played a part in decisions about the future course the race will take.

With this year’s Raid World Championships scheduled for September, when past Subaru Primal Quest’s have taken place, teams have been pressing for a date announcement for the past couple of months. This new statement helps clarify the position, and confirms rumours that have been on the ‘AR grapevine’ for some time.

However, it’s headed ‘Primal Quest 2006’ and makes no mention of Subaru, who have made a significant investment as sponsors for the past two years, and whose name is now closely tied to a race commonly referred to as ‘SPQ’. Nor is there any indication of who the new management might be, or a specific reason for the split with the race founders.

More news is promised soon, which will hopefully clarify dates, a venue and race personnel, so Primal Quest can quickly re-establish itself and move forward next year.