2017 Finke Desert Race set

The Finke Desert Race -- a 452km off-road scramble from Alice Springs to Finke and back in Australia's red centre -- returns this weekend for the 42nd time.

A total of 700 vehicles will contest the race – 138 cars/buggies and 562 bikes/quads. 'The Finke' is considered one of Australia's most grueling desert races.

As always, the Finke Desert Race takes place during the Queen's Birthday long weekend in the Northern Territory and traverses extremely rugged terrain that is best tackled with long-travel suspension and heavy-duty bash plates.

That means dirt and enduro bikes only, along with purpose-built buggies, trophy trucks, ATVs and jacked-up 4WDs.

Rocks, sandy hills and what locals call Finke whoops are some of the terrain that regularly snaps bones and causes other injuries to contenders.

The first Aussie to win the world's most challenging desert race, the Dakar Rally, and five-time Finke Desert Race winner Toby Price will be the headline entrant at the 2017 event.

But unlike in 2016 when he won the Finke motorcycle category outright and came second in the car category, Price will only contest the race on four wheels. That's because he's still recovering from his broken leg (femur broken into four pieces) from the 2017 Dakar Rally earlier in the year.

Price will drive a Geiser Trophy Truck (Chev 6000cc) and is hoping to snaffle his first Finke win on four wheels.

He will have his work cut out for him as US off-road hero Harley Letner joins the fray, a man who has won the legendary Baja 500 desert race twice and is undefeated in the 2017 US Best of the Desert Series.

With Price out of contention in the bike category, the trophy is up for grabs and the likes of Todd Smith, who won in 2013, and his brother Jacob are expected to be at the pointy end of the pack on their Hondas.

The 2017 Finke Desert Race starts with the prologue on Saturday, June 10 and finishes on Monday, June 12.