Phil Streeter was set to complete the second half of the Queen's Birthday long weekend race when a group of spectators were hit by a vehicle that left the race track.

Northern Territory police confirmed a 60-year-old man died after being struck by the vehicle on Monday morning, 35km from the finish line.

Two other spectators were injured in the crash, with one taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital the next day.

The Finke Desert Race runs from Alice Springs to the rural community of Aputula, formerly known as Finke.

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Racers depart from Alice Springs on Sunday and camp overnight at Aputula, heading back to Alice Springs on Monday to finish the race.

Mr Streeter said organisers informed the racers about the accident 15 minutes before they departed for Alice Springs.

"We had just done our pre-race and all of the officials told us what was going on," he said.

"About 15 minutes before we were about to go off, they red-flagged the race and told us there had been an accident further down the track with a spectator.

"The atmosphere out of the crowd just went straight away, everyone was very down and very sad about it all."

Mr Streeter said he had been toying with the idea of competing in the race for the past five years but was only able to acquire a ticket in 2020.

"I saw the race and thought it would be really good - something to challenge myself," he said.

"I have never been able to find the time or been able to get myself organised. The logistics to get the whole thing together is a lot of work.

"I got a ticket last year and I was really keen, but obviously that went pear-shaped."

Mr Streeter had managed to get a ticket to 2021's event but again had to unload his trailer and cancel his place after the Northern Territory imposed a hard border with regional Victoria during the May lockdown.

On Tuesday, May 8, four days out from the event's start, he said he received a late-night call from a friend in Alice Springs.

"It got to the point where I had unpacked my gear, unpacked my trailer. I swapped all the stuff on my motorbike back over to sand instead of desert racing. I cancelled my ticket.

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"All of a sudden, on Tuesday night, at about 9.30pm, one of the boys who was going to come up with me gave me a call and said, 'you are not going to believe this, the Northern Territory just opened up their border to regional Victoria'.

"I didn't know what to do; I cancelled my ticket. So I spoke to the two boys who were already up in Alice Springs and thought I would just go up and help them out anyway. They told me to pack my bike because I might have a bit of a ride anyway.

"So I got in touch with the Finke Desert committee on Wednesday morning and they were unreal. I had told them what had gone on and they told me to come up and they would get me a spot, it would be fine."

In a snap decision, Mr Streeter and his group of friends decided to dash to Alice Springs, leaving at 12.30pm on Wednesday to arrive at 1pm Thursday, just in time for registration.

"It was a pretty wild 24 hours. There was a mad rush to pack everything on Tuesday night, jump in bed for a couple of hours and then start driving," he said.

"I was so lucky, I had a crew of boys from Horsham and from Hopetoun. They just dropped everything and came up with me."

The race was cancelled in the aftermath of the crash, leaving 450 motorbike riders stuck at Aputula.

Police had shut off the race track, and many of the riders support team had already left back to Alice Springs, waiting for the riders to come back.

Mr Streeter said the Finke Desert Race committee had organised the racers to ride back to Alice Springs in groups of 50 once the track had been reopened.

"The Finke Desert Race committee did an unbelievable job to get everything organised like they did. They did a really good job," he said.

"There was a logistic operation, about 50 motorbikes which needed to get back to Alice Springs, and the racetrack was closed off. It was a logistical nightmare.

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"Once they opened the track back up they put us into groups of 50, which was really dusty but they did an unbelievable job to organise what they did. Hats off to the committee there, they did an excellent job."

Mr Streeter said although the tragic circumstances put a damper on the mood at the race, he was looking forward to competing again next year.

"The amount of spectators that are among the track are just unbelievable," he said.

"There will definitely be a bit of shake up, it is very sad. The man who passed away was actually camped right next to us. He was an older bloke who was interested in photography. It was terrible."

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