Out of more than 600 riders, Moore achieved his goal of finishing top 20, and while Carroll was aiming for a top 10 finish he said he was still "pretty happy" with the result.

"I just really couldn't go any better. The track was pretty hectic," he said.

16-year-old Gerry Crowe took on the brutal race for the very first time and finished 354^th, which well and truly exceeded his goal of just finishing the race.

Before the main race begins, riders compete in the prologue to determine starting position.

Moore managed 33^rd place in the prologue, which is far better than he had done in previous years, while Carroll finished 25^th.

"The first 20 start two at a time. Everyone after that starts five at a time 30 seconds apart," Carroll said.

"So if you don't get a good start you're pretty well behind five blokes."

"I had a bit of work to do, but I still felt confident."

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Carroll said his preparation was strong heading into the race.

"I rode nearly every day," he said.

"My fitness and that was good through the race. My hands got torn apart pretty bad, but my fitness was good. I felt good.

"There were no injuries this year which was good. Before the last two I've been injured, silly little crashes before the event, but none of that this year."

Carroll said he got off to a good start but made one crucial mistake early in the race.

"I overshot one of the corners. Five guys went past me so I was eating a fair bit of dust."

He was eventually able to settle into a groove.

"It was a pretty smooth run. It was pretty good on the way down (to Finke). I felt good," he said.

"I had a few moments on the way home. It was just the track mainly, it was wrecked from the buggies."

In terms of whether Carroll will be back for 2020, he still isn't sure.

"I'll decide that a bit later on in the year. I wouldn't mind going back," he said.