Toby Price celebrates his victory at the Melbourne Enduro-X aboard KTM's 500 EXC. Image: Russell Colvin.

Motorex KTM Off Road Racing dominated the Melbourne Enduro-X on Saturday, 4 February, as Toby Price and Chris Hollis scored a convincing 1-2 finish overall.

Price (KTM 500 EXC) edged out new teammate Hollis (KTM 350 EXC-F) for the victory with 3-1-1 results across the trio of four-lap finals, while current Australian Off Road Champion Hollis sealed the runner-up position with a 1-4-2 scorecard.

After successfully negotiating the technical Enduro-X circuit, which included obstacles such as rocks, logs, tyres and other materials, Price took home the winner’s cheque of $5000 for his efforts in the Pro Class.

“It was good to get the win in something different that we don’t usually do,” Price commented. “The track was marked out really well and was a lot of fun to ride – one wheel wrong and things got very difficult. I’ll be doing a bit more testing on the 500 EXC in the next couple of days in the lead-up to the nationals, but so far, so good.”

The big-bore 2012 model 500 EXC was flawless on debut with Price at the controls, making light work of the Enduro-X course, which requires a mix of both usable power and agile handling.

Ben Grabham (KTM 350 SX-F) narrowly missed the podium in fourth overall, while Motorex KTM Off Road Racing newcomer Ben Burrel (KTM 250 EXC-F) was a solid seventh on debut.

Team manager Brad Williscroft was victorious in the Over 35s category aboard the KTM 250 EXC, which was his first event on the two-stroke since 2003.

Williscroft was proud of the team’s performance in their first national event of the 2012 season, now looking ahead to the upcoming AORC campaign at the end of this month.

“It was an awesome way to start the year,” Williscroft said. “Everything went to plan with a 1-2 finish and Grabbo only just missed third, so it was almost a clean-sweep of the podium. It’s all shaping up for the national off-road series, so we’ll be full steam ahead.”

The opening round of the Australian Off Road Championship will take place at Dungog in New South Wales on 25-26 February.