FORMER Singleton Sports Star of the Year Toby Price closed out his 2018 Finke ‘Iron Man’ double campaign by finishing first in the bike category, but being forced into a DNF result in the truck section.
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The Red Bull Trophy Truck required a gearbox and transmission replacement, which was removed from Billy Geddes’ vehicle and flown by helicopter from Alice Springs to Finke at 10.30pm prior to the final leg of the race.
Price and navigator Jason Duncan started second for the return trip from Finke to Alice Springs but blew a power steering pump that forced the duo into a DNF result.
Price was disappointed with the outcome after all the hard work from the Toby Price Motorsport team, however extremely thankful for their efforts and the support of his valued sponsors.
“That is a hard pill to swallow,” he admitted.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t make it back to Finke in the Red Bull Trophy Truck due to a power steering failure.
“We didn’t leave a stone unturned last night and our Toby Price Motorsport team gave it a red-hot crack to get me on that start line.”
After failing to reach the finish line in the Red Bull Trophy Truck, Price flew back to the Finke start line for the final leg of the bike.
Taking off from first, he led out in front and was able to recover from a fall 100km out from the end.
Price eclipsed the all-time record for bike wins, claiming his sixth King of the Desert crown in just nine years on his KTM 500 EXC-F.
He finished with a time of 3:55:25.1, over 10 minutes ahead of the next rider.
“All went really well, we're pumped - we got our sixth win for the Finke Desert Race,” Price said.
“The race was definitely hard on us, we had a little bit of get off 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.
“I can't thank KTM enough.
“They always put in a massive effort and have everything ready to go for us.
“Unfortunately, we didn't go as well in the truck category for the 'Iron Man' double blowing a power steering pump.
“All and all it was good times and I'm happy everything is all wrapped up for the weekend.
“It’s time to kick back, relax a little bit and celebrate with the team.”
