RED DIRT KING: Hillston-born enduro star Toby Price won his second Finke Desert title in three years and looks set to reclaim his Australian crown.
TOBY Price has been crowned king of the desert for the second time in three years after taking out the prestigious Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs.
The Hillston-born enduro racing whiz proved what many in the Australian scene already know: that Price is one of the best young talents to be produced in many years.
To win the race more than once is no mean feat given it sees competitors on bikes and in buggies traverse some of the harshest terrain in the country during their 458km round-trip journey.
Price said the win followed the team’s plan to the letter, adding their countless hours of work before the event led to the win and a $10,000 winner’s cheque.
“It’s great to get that second victory and it’s one that I really wanted this year,” Price said.
“All the hard work’s paid off, so I definitely have to thank my team for getting us out there, I’m stoked. It was just a lot of hard work and prep that we put in for this year.
“I really wanted to work hard and get this one back, so it’s all panned out really well.
“The prologue went well, I got a good time there, so then I put my head down and went for it on the way down (to Finke). I got a good, clean run, and it was the same for the return trip, it’s all turned out great.”
On day one Price topped the prologue in a time of 4 hours 52 minutes to start first in the trek from Alice Springs to Finke and back.
Sunday saw the great race commence and it was again Price who topped the field arriving at Finke for the evening in a time of 1hour, 57mins and 55secs.
Such was the pace of his first run, Price arrived in Finke almost five minutes ahead of closest rival David Walsh, while Todd Smith was nearly five minutes further behind in third.
Monday saw Price extend his lead on the way back to Alice Springs, claiming victory for KTM following a gruelling number of weeks pre-running Finke in the lead-up to the race weekend.
Price topped Monday’s return stage in a time of 1h59m7s, amounting in an overall time of 3h57m3s, more than nine minutes ahead of Walsh and Smith for his second career Finke win.
Price will now focus on the ninth and 10th rounds of the Australian Off Road Championship to will be held at Conodale in Queensland on July 28 and 29.
The former local enters the third and fourth last rounds of the Australian competition in excellent position, leading Matt Phillips by a massive 42 points.
