Orange dominance in the desert as KTM sweeps podium.
North Star Pastoral KTM Desert Racing Team’s Toby Price has claimed a record sixth-career victory in the 2018 Tatts Finke Desert Race, leading an emphatic 1-2 result for the team ahead of local standout David Walsh.
Price was unstoppable aboard his factory KTM 500 EXC-F, topping the Prologue before setting a blazing pace from Alice Springs to Finke and back to register an overall time of 3h55m25.1s.
That placed Price 10m19.7s in front of Walsh following a gruelling 480-kilometre return trip in the relentless Australian outback.
After missing last year’s Finke, 30-year-old Price proved the class of the field, leading the way down with a time of 1h57m45.6s to establish a 4m12.8s advantage overnight. He upped the pace on the run home with a 1h57m39.5s effort to deliver one of his most impressive performances yet and become the winningest rider of all-time in the iconic event.
Walsh, 28, recorded the second-fastest time to Finke despite starting out of position 28 following the Prologue and still recovering from a major incident while preparing in the lead-up. He ultimately maintained position two, returning to the rostrum for the first time since 2016 in a heroic ride.
Making it an all-KTM podium sweep, Australian Off-Road Championship regular Jack Simpson captured third position, with Kent Collins (KTM) fourth. The top five was completed by Mark Grove (Honda) in an impressive ride that also earned him the Up To 250cc Four-Stroke class win.