MotoOnline speaks to AORC champ Toby Price fresh from his Finke Desert Race win in his first attempt.
Last time we spoke to Toby Price was straight after he won the opening round of this year’s Australian Off-Road Championship, and since then, his hot streak of race victories has continued in dynamic fashion.
Price has proven to be the in-form man of 2010, perhaps surprising even himself in his dominance since joining the Motorex KTM Off-Road Racing Team, adding victories in the Australian Four Day Enduro and Finke Desert Race to his glowing off-road resume.
MotoOnline.com.au gave him a call for a quick chat just days after his Finke win as a rookie that he wrapped up last Monday, getting the inside line on what’s to come in the near future as he steamrolls the national circuit.
Toby, you won the Finke Desert Race at you first attempt, congratulations mate – you must be pumped!
Yeah, I’m stoked. It’s a great race to win and I didn’t actually realise how big it was, so it was awesome to win for KTM. Hopefully we can go back and have a go at defending it this year.
Talk us through the race and how you found the event, especially for those who haven’t closely followed desert racing before.
Well I hadn’t really heard much about the Finke before either, so it just blew me away how big the event actually is, how many people are involved and the crowd that rocks up to it – it’s definitely a massive event! It was just crazy, but good to be a part of, so hopefully I get the opportunity to go back and have another crack at winning.
You’re the reigning AORC champion and again lead that series, but how did you prepare for the 460-kilometre race from Alice Springs to Finke and back?
To be honest there really isn’t much you can do to prepare for it other than getting on the actual track that we race, but yeah, there’s nothing anywhere in Australia where I’ve ridden that replicates it. It’s a different type of race, just awesome and I enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve been missing out on some fun not being there for the last few years, that’s for sure.
It’s an event that KTM takes very seriously, so what were the expectations going into it and how surprised was the team of your win on debut?
KTM definitely thrives on that event and it’s a good event to win for them because it shows that the bike can put up with the stuff we put them through. Hopefully we can get another good result in the future.
It was unfortunate for Ben Grabham because it would have been good to see him get four wins in a row, and I really wasn’t expecting too much out of the race myself, so it’s definitely awesome to take the win.
So what’s next mate – is the Australasian Safari on your agenda for 2010?
Nah, we’re not doing the Safari this year, so the next event on my calendar is the Hattah down near Mildura, and then I have some more AORC rounds, before hopefully at the end of the year I can go to France for a World Enduro Championship round.
You’re currently leading the AORC in your title defense, so how’s that going for you this year as the reigning champion?
Everything’s been going great. We’ve meant to have had six rounds by now but we’ve only had three because of the weather, but I’ve won all three Outright and in my class, so hopefully I can keep winning and keep my title for another year.
We’ve spoken about your Finke and AORC success, but you also won the A4DE earlier this year too. It’s just been a dream year so far, hasn’t it?
Yeah, definitely. It was awesome to win the Four-Day after I came so close to winning in 2009 – I only missed out by eight seconds or something like that last year. It was a race that I really wanted to win this year, so to accomplish that I’m really happy. It’s been a great year with KTM, the support they have been giving me is just awesome.
And just finally, since you’ve absolutely been dominating the off-road scene here, the next step surely has to be overseas full time in 2011?
For sure, I would love to go overseas to race in either Europe or America. Whether it’s the World Enduro Championship or the GNCC (Grand National Cross Country) series, fingers crossed everything keeps going well and only time will tell. Hopefully we can get over there and slowly try to make a name for myself, do really well – hopefully anyway [laughs]!
Sounds good to us, thanks for your time and we’ll be sure to speak again soon.
Thanks for that, really appreciate it.