Source: Supplied.

Australian Dakar Rally winner and Red Bull KTM factory rider Toby Price launched his bid for the 2016 FIM Cross-Country Rallies Championship title in Abu Dhabi this week by taking victory in the opening round, the Desert Challenge.

In Price’s first foray into the soft sand of the Gulf State’s Liwa Desert he was fastest in Saturday’s prologue and went on to win the first and the fifth stage to claim a hard-fought overall win.

“Today it was a race from start to finish and we were really pushing all the way to the finish,” said Price. “That’s what I enjoy most and I had to work for it – we were really on the gas. Now we just have to keep going this way.”

British-born Red Bull KTM teammate Sam Sunderland, who now bases himself out of Dubai, finished second overall behind price. Fellow teammate Pablo Quintanilla claimed the final step on the podium in third position.

Price and his competitors will now take a week break before heading to the Sealine Rally in Qatar.