The 2026 Custom Lithium Don River Dash delivered another spectacular weekend of off-road racing in Bowen, with Brett Comiskey and Corey Cooper claiming the Auto King of the River crown, while Levi Stephens powered to victory on two wheels.
Now in its eighth year, the Burdekin Offroaders event once again transformed the Don River into one of Australia’s most unique off-road racing arenas, with competitors taking on approximately 300 kilometres across two days of racing through deep sand, river crossings, rocks and constantly changing terrain.
Comiskey and Cooper conquer the Don
In the car field, Brett Comiskey and navigator Corey Cooper emerged victorious in their brand-new Class 8 Mason all-wheel-drive truck, completing the course in an impressive two hours and 38 minutes.
The victory was made even more remarkable by the fact Comiskey had virtually no time behind the wheel of the new machine before the event, with his only previous drive coming when he unloaded the truck from the trailer.
Despite the lack of seat time, Comiskey and Cooper quickly found their rhythm in the challenging Don River conditions to secure the 2026 Auto King of the River title.
Behind them, Brad Belcher and Russell Newman finished second outright and claimed the Ultimate class victory, while Seeton Battle and Nathan Cade completed the outright podium in third.
The Auto top ten was rounded out by Lochlan Waters/Kevin Waters, Jan Kraaij, Daniel Avenell/Wiremu Hinga, Steven Von Pein/Ashley Carvolth, Shaun Dagan/Jack Rosevear, Leigh Piggott/Daniel Piggott and Rob Knight/Matthew Leonard.
Stephens goes one better
On the bikes, Levi Stephens turned his runner-up result from 2025 into victory in 2026, taking out the Bike King of the River title.
The Newcastle rider completed the event in approximately two hours and 50 minutes, leading home Eli Englebrecht in second and Tomas Kruger in third.
Stephens also secured the Pro class victory, while Georgia Hanrahan was crowned the 2026 Queen of the River.
The bike outright top ten featured Stephens, Englebrecht and Kruger ahead of Jock Hulland, Brent Storey, Dylan Marriott, Jake McGrath, Cameron Loder, Kyle Hart and Patrick Dun.
A massive effort behind the scenes
The 2026 event presented organisers with an enormous challenge before competitors even arrived in Bowen.
Flooding earlier in the year had significantly changed sections of the Don River, stripping away large amounts of sand and vegetation and leaving organisers with the enormous task of building two new 25-kilometre tracks through the changed riverbed.
Burdekin Offroaders President Michael Marson praised the enormous effort that went into delivering the event.
The effort was rewarded with another huge field, bringing together everything from grassroots racers to some of Australian off-road racing’s biggest names for two days of competition in Bowen.
Congratulations to all competitors, officials, volunteers and the Burdekin Offroaders team on another huge Don River Dash!
