Toby Price has further underlined his reputation as ‘King of the Desert’ at Australia’s premier offroad contest. Not only did Price claim his sixth Finke Desert Race win on two wheels, but also came close to victory in the truck category as well.
The 2018 Finke Desert Race was targeted by Price as an opportunity to pull off an outlandish stunt. Not only did he compete in the bike race, he also raced his Red Bull Trophy Truck at the contest as well. This meant that after crossing 230 kilometres of outback on four-wheels he would fly back to start-line and cover the same ground by bike – on both days of the race!
Following the first day of racing from Alice Springs to Aputula the ‘Iron Man’ double was on with Price well placed in the truck and bike races. On the second day though the power steering pump on the truck broke and ended Price’s assault on four wheels. However, Price was flown back to the start line where his KTM 500 EXC-F bike was waiting.
The 2016 Dakar Rally winner jumped on his bike and raced back to Alice Springs. A winning time of under four hours put Price more than 10 minutes ahead of the next rider in the final standings.
« We’re pumped to get our sixth win for the Finke Desert Race! The race was definitely hard on us. We had a little bit of a crash around the 100km mark coming home. Overall I’m stoked, six wins on the bike for KTM and it’s amazing that we’ve got the record for all-time wins in that category. » – Toby Price
There’s more race action coming up for the Red Bull Desert Wings squad later this month at the Italian Baja. The racing in northern Italy takes place June 21-24 with the event being the sixth round of 11 stops that comprise the 2018 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup.
Looking to extend their World Cup lead in Italy will be Polish driver Kuba Przygonski alongside Belgian co-driver Tom Colsoul in their Mini. Przygonski currently leads the championship on 186 points from Russia’s Vladimir Vasilyev who sits second on 143 points. Martin Prokop is also a threat with the Czech driver third in the championship on 137 points.
Przygonski and Colsoul will be hoping for victory in Italy to match their early season wins at the Dubai International Baja and the Qatar Cross-Country Rally.
« In our last race at Rally Kazakhstan we were fighting right until the end and we ended up with second place. In Italy we want to pick up as many championships points as we can. » – Kuba Przygonski
Quotes
Toby Price: « We’re pumped to get our sixth win for the Finke Desert Race! The race was definitely hard on us. We had a little bit of a crash around the 100km mark coming home. Overall I’m stoked, six wins on the bike for KTM and it’s amazing that we’ve got the record for all-time wins in that category.
« Unfortunately, we didn’t go as well in the truck category for the ‘Iron Man’ double because the power steering pump blew. But all in all it was good times and I’m happy everything is all wrapped up. Now it’s time to kick back and relax a little bit and celebrate with the team. »
Kuba Przygonski: « In our last race at Rally Kazakhstan we were fighting right until the end and we ended up with second place. In Italy we want to pick up as many championships points as we can. We were taking lots of risks and attacking as much as we could. »
Christina Gaither,