DIRTBIKE

T

oby Price stunned the

motorcycle world with his win in

this year’s Dakar Rally. After his

rookie third-place finish last

year on a production KTM 450 Rally, no

one expected Pricey to do badly as a

member of the works Red Bull KTM

Team but the maturity and ease with

which he won amazed almost everyone.

On a brief trip back to Australia

before the start of the FIM Cross-

Country Rallies World Championship, he

took time out to runADBreaders

through the event.

THE WARM UP

Toby’s lead-up to Dakar hadn’t gone

quite to plan. A series of speeding

penalties in Chile’s Atacama Rally in

September meant a lot more study of

the roadbook before Rallye du Maroc

the following month, where a stage win

on the first day was very reassuring.

Then it all turned to shit. “My nav.

unit snapped clean out of the housing;

unplugging all the instruments. No

amount of zip ties would keep it

together. Then, on day three, I came

down with food poisoning. That entire

event was a bummer.”

After signing a two-year deal with Red

Bull KTM in July last year, Toby had

already spent considerable time training

with factory #1 Marc Coma in Spain’s

High Sierra.

“Marc certainly fast-tracked my

education after he announced he was

taking on the position of Dakar course

director. Unfortunately the lessons were

no longer an option but they were

certainly invaluable.”

So by the time Toby arrived in Buenos

Aires for Dakar he might not have had a

lot of racing but the force was with him.

WORDS //PETERWHITAKERPHOTOS //RED BULL KTM/DANNY WILKINSON

Toby Price

INTERVIEW | TOBY PRICE

1 Main: Mines bigger than yours1. Price stunned competitors and

spectators with his speed

90 | APRIL 2016 http://www.adbmag.com.au