KTM Australia press release:

KTM Enduro Racing Team rider and defending champion Toby Price will lead a formidable four-rider KTM contingent into this weekend’s annual Hattah Desert race near Mildura.

The event’s combination of deep sand, crazy high speeds and testing physical challenge are like a magnet to the man who earlier this year finished his maiden Dakar Rally with a podium, and a month after successfully defending his Finke crown, Price will attempt to do likewise at Hattah.

Not that it will be easy, the event will feature some big hitters in 2015 and like most of the year, some of Price’s fiercest challengers are the men he shares his pit space with.

Perth motocrosser Louis Calvin finished an astonishing third in his 2014 Hattah cameo and earned himself a seat on one of the team’s KTM 500 EXCs for this weekend. Amazingly, Calvin’s podium last year was achieved despite hydration issues which prevented him from drinking for much of the race, so few will be selling him short in 2015.

Tye Simmonds came to Hattah once before when he was 17, but back then he wasn’t seated on one of the factory team’s KTM 500 EXCs, and he wasn’t the Finke Desert race vice-champion then either. Tougher, stronger and faster now, the former motocross pro is a genuine contender by anyone’s measure.

Young Daniel Sanders is currently running third in the Australian Off-Road Championship in what has so far been a spectacular rookie year in seniors, and for this weekend he has taken on a new challenge – seeing just how far up the outright leader board a fit, determined young charger can get on a 300cc two-stroke.

Toby Price – KTM 500 EXC – “Hattah is another one of my favourites. The conditions here are awesome. The track is always really good and I love the high-speed stuff and when all of those whoops come out. The atmosphere here is really cool too, tonight we’ve got the scrutineering night, which is the riders meet and greet night where people can come and say g’day and get some posters signed. You get to mix it with the fans and catch up and have a chat to people before the business end of the weekend. I love riding the KTM 500 EXC here; the power delivery is really good. We’ve got some pretty sharp turns but the KTM gets up on top of the sand really quick and before you know it you’re back in top gear having a good time. I’m looking forward to getting the big girl back out there again and holding her wide open!”

Tye Simmonds – KTM 500 EXC – “I’ve only done one Hattah before and that was in 2008 when I was 17. Testing has been good so far and the bike is feeling really good. This is really enjoyable for me, it’s still really fast, but a little bit more motocrossy with the sand and everything so hopefully it will suit me. See how we go. It’s good to be back on the big 500 and going fast again. I love the big girls, they are fun, that’s for sure. They do feel a bit heavier with the setup and the steering damper, compared to our off-road bikes which are set up to turn on a dime, so it’s a case of trying to find that happy medium between stability and manoeuvrability. Can’t wait for Sunday though, it’s going to be magic.”

Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders – KTM 300 EXC – “Not technically the first Hattah I’ve been to, but hopefully it’ll be the first one I start! In 2012 I brained myself in the Prologue and the docs wouldn’t give me clearance to race. I’m coming into this one with a bit of confidence though and my fitness is there, so hopefully the track gets nice and rough. We’ll try to get through the first few laps in the top 10 and watch everyone tire themselves out. Then with my fitness we’ll charge in, and the 300 will get its power to the ground and then hopefully we’ll move through the pack and have a strong finish. I give away a bit of top speed, I was holding the thing tapped the other day and Pricey blew past me like I was standing still. Those 500s do go hard. Either way it’ll be a good learning race for me, I don’t have major expectations, but I definitely want to get into the top 10, and top five would be a bonus.”

Louis Calvin – 500 EXC – “I’m stoked with that. It’s great operating out of the factory team truck, I want to do that every weekend! Today I wasn’t too happy with the setting on the shock, so the boys just chucked another one in and it was perfect. They asked me if I want to try anything different but we pretty much ended up going back to what we started with because they’ve got an awesome set up already. Apart from Daniel I’ve known all these guys for years and it’s such an awesome group of people who are fun to hang out with. It’s a great atmosphere. It’s great to be back on the 500 again, but I had to adjust my eyes a little bit today – you just don’t realise how much faster you come into these corners! I got third last year despite cramping up a little bit, but I was over the moon then. I’m a little bit better prepared this year and hopefully I’ll be a bit fresher at the end of the race, so we’ll see what happens.”

Ben Grabham, Team Manager – “Last year we had a great run with Toby winning it and Louis coming out for a guest right and getting third, so we’ve got those two back on board with #1 and #3.
It’s probably one of my most favourite tracks I’ve ever ridden, and I think the boys will enjoy it too. The prologue this year is mostly hardback but the race is pretty much bottomless sand all the way round. Everyone asks whether this one is tougher or Finke. Finke you have to get up the next day and do it again but here it’s four hours straight and you’ve got backmarkers to contend with, so there’s no clear answer. Some of the other classes will come off the track at the three-hour mark, so that gives the pros a bit of an open go for the last two laps.
Toby’s always been amazing in this race, it just suits him with a high-speed and with his high corner speed. Louis surprised me last year, and he didn’t even know how to work his Camelbak tap so he wasn’t drinking – he could be pretty strong if he actually gets a drink this time! Tye’s been going great – he loves motocross and he loves sand, and this is a bit of a combination of both. Chucky is fit as we know, and I think he just wants to get out there and see how far up the field he can get on the two stroke. He’d have to give away 30 or 40kmh against our 500s, but there’s quite a few corners here, so I think in the later part of the race, if he is quite smart, I reckon he can push on and get towards that top five.”

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