in protecting its fifteenth straight victory and
Meo’s instructions were to drop back and
shadow Toby in case of problems. This worked
well enough until Meo crashed late in the day,
losing his chance of becoming only the third
rookie to score a Dakar podium after Price
and South Australian Andy Haydon.
“I started to feel that a win was within
reach but there was still 1600km to go and,
remembering the crowds on the first two days,
I knew that anything could happen. I felt I
was riding on ice, had a couple of excursions
into the boonies and figured I just had to
calm down.
“The final special was only 185km but it
felt like I rode over a thousand country miles;
the last day just dragged on forever. The only
time I really felt confident I could lay hands
on the trophy was when I was two k's from the
finish. I knew then I’d built enough of a lead
to push the bike home and still take the
overall win.
“Then it was only a short liaison to the
celebrations and the party was on. Full gas.
Now the target is on my back and all the hard
work’s just become 10 times harder. Sam
(Sunderland) is a good dude and really quick
in the sand, Matthias (Walkner) won the
World Cross-Country Rallies Championship so
he’s certainly up to speed, Antoine might be
new to it all but two stage wins show where
he’s at. We’ve got a really strong team
however I’d like to think we can get a few
more Dakar trophies in Australia. I’m certainly
gonna give it 100%.”
May the force be with you, Toby.What annoyed me the most was that I was doing my job
properly and made a heap of time on everyone on that stage
2
Toby Price
1
- Toby marks a route sheet in the
motorhome he shared with Meo - If you count the Austrian Husky
as a Kato, that's a podium sweep
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
Toby is committed to the six-round FIM
World Cross-Country Rallies
Championship which kicks off with the
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in April and
fi nishes with the Morocco Rally in
October. “Six races plus Dakar may not
appear to be such a heavy schedule but it
means two months solid racing plus
travel and scrutineering. It doesn’t leave
time for much else,” says Toby. “I can’t
see us at any rounds of the AORC but if
the Egyptian round of the world
championship is canned because of
terrorism, we may be a chance for a
quick trip back home and a bit of fun at
the A4DE.
“I’m really keen to do Finke which,
fortunately, is on after the Sardinian Rally
which fi nishes on 7 June. So, Red Bull and
KTM willing, I could be on a quick fl ight to
be in Alice by June 10. I’d put that at a
60-70 per cent chance but it depends on
how we do at Abu Dhabi and Qatar.”
As for the ISDE: “I’d love to do another
Six Day, it’s on my bucket list but jumping
off a rally bike on to an enduro bike isn’t
easy. It’s also a long way down the track
and it’s up to the selectors. I wasn’t in the
team last year and they’re the world
champions. So who knows what might
happen come October.”96 | APRIL 2016 http://www.adbmag.com.au