Toby Price :
RETURN
OF THE
DAKAR
D
KING
akar! The word itself conjures images of
extremes; environment, weather, ma-
chines, challenges. A sporting event that
could only be described as the toughest.
Man, and machine taking on what the
harsh deserts of South America throws at
them. A race. A challenge. An adventure!
Making a comeback after serious injuries in 2017 edi-
tion of the Dakar, Toby
Price was hoping for a fin-
ish. In the forefront of his
memory was the crash that
forced him out of the 2017
race, he knew that recre-
ating what he did in 2016
by becoming the first Aus-
tralian to win the Dakar
was an almost impossible
challenge. What resulted
was a comeback that many
consider to be one of the
greatest of all time.
Excited to be back on
the Red Bull backed fac-
tory KTM, the 31-year-old
Price started the 9,000
kilometre event (of which
more than half is compet-
Flavien Duhamel / Red Bull
itive) tentatively, placing
14th after the first 32km
long stage (Lima to Pisco), almost 3 and a half minutes
behind reigning champion, Sam Sunderland from the UK
and also aboard a KTM.
Back in the saddle and feeling his way, Price couldn’t
wait to get further into the dunes and see what he could
do.
The dunes came with the 267km Pisco loop of stage 2.
Price started to make his move as the navigation stage al-
lowed him to use his skills to close in on the leaders. A top
ten place stage finish gave him tenth place overall. During
the stage his previously broken leg gave no trouble, filling
Price with confidence.
“I caught Laia (Sanz –
the sports leading female
rider) about the 40/50km
mark and we rode togeth-
er until we caught a car,”
Price said of the chaotic
second stage which took
out about a third of the
field of cars.
“Day 3 felt really com-
fortable, I dropped out on
a small dune,” explained
the Australian regarding
an incident that saw a con-
siderable amount of fluids
lost from his KTM and a
roadbook full of sand. It
had little consequence as
he pulled into San Juan
De Marcona in third place
and fourth overall.
“I’m pretty happy with the stage overall.”
Stage 4, another loop, and another romp in the dunes,
saw Price drop places. One lost waypoint was enough to
TRAVERSE 9