Source: KTM.

KTM Australia has confirmed its enduro and desert racing teams will forge into a single squad for 2015, with the signing of two new recruits to help tackle its packed and varied calendar.

The 2015 KTM Off-Road Racing Team will see champion off-road racer Toby Price return alongside South Australian desert racing hotshot Ivan Long, with new team members Victorian Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders and former top-level pro motocrosser Tye Simmonds.

The team, managed by decorated racer Ben Grabham, will see Price, Simmonds, and Sanders target all enduro and off-road majors, with Price, Simmonds and Long forming the brand’s three-pronged desert racing arm.

Off-road racing maestro Price has re-signed with the team after a barn-storming 2014 season which included Finke, Hattah and AORC championship wins, a top-eight finish in a round of the World Rally Championship in Morocco, and a dominant ISDE E3 performance.

“It’s always a good feeling being back,” Price said. “I love being with the KTM brand and all the guys that we’ve got here in Australia are a great bunch of people. It feels like a family so it’s good to have this locked away and we’re just looking forward to the 12 months ahead and seeing where the future takes us.”

Fellow incumbent Long soared with the backing of the factory this year and looks certain to only improve in 2015.

“I’m pretty stoked to be on the race team again,” Long explained. “I knew that it was going to be a learning stage this year and I’ve worked pretty hard. Obviously you are definitely pushing the boundaries to keep up with someone like Pricey in the Tri-Series, but I learned lots of little things to work on so we’ll see what happens next year.”

Victorian 20-year-old Sanders has been elevated to the factory team on the back of a stellar 2014 in which, as a KTM-mounted privateer, he went almost undefeated in the Under 19s classification of the Australian Off-Road Championship on his way to sixth Outright.

“It’s exciting to be on a team, I’m stoked with that and I can’t wait to start,” Sanders commented.

Simmonds is the other exciting new member, with his passion for motorcycle racing now restored after a burnout-induced halt to his motocross career more than a year ago.

“It’s something completely different for me; obviously I’ve raced motocross and supercross all my life,” Simmonds said. “The only thing I’ve done with these guys has been Hattah, so it’s completely new and I’m really stoked that Grabbo has given me a chance to have a go.

“It’s all escalated pretty quickly, and before I knew it we were down in Melbourne to race at the Expo and I’d signed the contract. I think the KTM Off-Road Team is the best team in the off-road and desert scene and the bikes are unreal.”

The new-look KTM Off-Road Racing Team will have its official competition debut at the first round of next year’s Enduro-X series at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway on Saturday, 7 February.