Toby Price will defend the KTM Hattah Desert Race title on Sunday.

Motorex KTM Off Road Racing rider Toby Price will defend the KTM-sponsored Hattah Desert Race title in Mildura, Victoria, this weekend on 7-8 July.

The 2012 season has so far gone to plan for Price, winning the Finke Desert Race and currently dominating the Australian Off-Road Championship for Motorex KTM Off Road Racing.

Last year at Hattah, Price finished the gruelling race in three hours, 47 minutes and 47.472 seconds aboard his KTM 450 SX-F, taking the victory by a spectacular three minutes and 47.584 seconds despite encountering a heavy crash on the opening lap of the race.

After winning the event in 2010 and 2011, Price is determined to keep the ball rolling for a third straight victory in 2012.

“It would be a great feeling to win three in a row, a big achievement for myself and the Motorex KTM Off Road Racing team,” Price said.

“So far, so good in 2012 and I’m confident that I can maintain that form into Hattah. It’s an important race for us and a fun one as a rider too, so I can’t wait to get started tomorrow.”

Joining Price on track with Motorex KTM Off Road Racing will be AORC teammates Chris Hollis and Ben Burrell, as well as team manager Brad Williscroft, who’s fresh from a top 10 finish in last month’s Finke Desert Race.

“We got down here Wednesday and have had a couple of days riding to set up the bikes,” Williscroft said. “All of the boys are happy with everything, we’re all ready to go tomorrow in the Prologue. Toby’s going for three in a row and everything’s going good for him, so I think he should have a good run.”

Attracting over 400 competitors, the Hattah Desert Race is fought out over eight laps of a gruelling 35-kilometre loop through unique mallee scrub land, which includes everything from tight, technical sections winding through trees to wide open blasts through open paddocks and sand hills.