Image: Russell Colvin.

The KTM Enduro Racing Team will see a reduced rider line-up for 2016 following the departure of newly-crowned Dakar Rally champion Toby Price as a fulltime rider for the team.

Existing team riders Tye Simmonds and Daniel Sanders will return with the factory KTM off-road squad this season, managed by experienced Australian off-road racer Ben Grabham.

“Ben Grabham will be managing the KTM off-road team in 2016,” said national race teams manager Rob Twyerould. “Alongside him he will have Mick Carusi as a mechanic along with Tye and Daniel as his riders.”

For the upcoming season team riders Simmonds and Sanders will contest the E2 and E3 classes respectively. Simmonds will pilot a KTM 450 EXC while Sanders opts to go the two-stroke route aboard the KTM 300 EXC.

“Tye will ride the 450 in the E2 category and Daniel is going to ride the 300 two-stroke in E3, so for 2016 we’ll now have someone in every class between the two manufacturers KTM and Husqvarna,” Twyerould added.

Although Price will not be a fulltime rider in 2016, he is expected to contest local desert races and has been confirmed as part of the Clipsal 500 Enduro-X event alongside the V8 Supercars at the beginning of March.