Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Racing’s Jarrod Bewley has vowed that he’ll come back faster and stronger in the 2013 running of the Finke Desert Race after finishing fifth outright this year.

Bewley suffered a serious shoulder injury before the event in pre-running, but that wasn’t enough to keep him from coming home with a fifth outright finish from 525 bike entries.

The 24-year-old charged through the pain and the dusty conditions aboard his YZ450F to finish the 452-kilometer course with a time of 4h17:32.

“I drove my shoulder into the ground during one of my pre-runs of Finke, which caused a stage three separation of my AC joint,” Bewley said of his injury.

“I really felt it on day one, but that night I made sure to manage the injury as best I could with icing and proper pain relief.

“I did the same thing the morning of day two after getting some good advice about how to manage the injury. After that, I charged home.

“I rode back as fast as I could but I didn’t ride over my head. I’m strong in the big whoops — I charged as hard as I could through that section of the track and that’s where I made all my passes.”

After finishing second last year with KTM, Bewley said his switch to Yamaha was a seamless transition aboard the YZ450F.

“The YZ450F was faultless over both days, it handled what ever I threw at it and kept me upright,” he said. “Over the 440-kilometres we rode, it never missed a beat. Finke can be a very tough event on bikes.

“Because it was so dusty, it was even harder on them — once they get choked up they don’t run as well and it puts more load on the gearbox and other things. But my YZ450F handled it brilliantly – I’m very happy with the bike.”

Bewley is already focused on coming back in a stronger position when 100 percent fit in 2013.

“As soon as I finished the race I realized where we can improve for next time,” he said. “I look forward to coming out stronger and being 100 percent fit for next year.

“Hopefully my shoulder will be feeling better for Hattah in four weeks time. I don’t expect it to be great, but I expect it to be better, and I will be taking the right precautions to make sure it is.”

The next race for the Active8 Yamaha Yamalube Racing team will be the Hattah Desert Race on 6-8 July in Mildura.