Toby Price ready for 2022 Dakar

With his final test session completed in late November, Toby Price of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team is now in Saudi Arabia, ahead of the start of the 2022 Dakar Rally on 1 January.

Price, along with team mates Matthias Walkner and new addition to the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, Kevin Benavides, will be on the latest version of the KTM 450 Rally, which has been developed over the past two years by KTM Technologies, KTM’s R&D department, KISKA, and KTM Motorsports.

Price describes the 450 Rally as “80 per cent new,” with reduced weight that allows more straightline speed and increased manoeuvrability.

Forced to retire from the 2021 Dakar Rally following a crash on stage nine which left him with a broken collarbone, as well as shoulder and hand injuries that required three separate surgeries, Price sat out most of this year’s FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship season.

Rejoining the team for the Rallye du Maroc in October, Price rode conservatively to finish 13th overall in an event where Walkner finished second, but wrapped up the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.

As well as using the Rallye du Maroc to hone his own fitness and racecraft after nine months away from competition, Price also developed his KTM 450 Rally at the Moroccan event to find a preferred set-up for the new machine ahead of Dakar.

A two-time Dakar winner and with a two-year contract extension with KTM that was signed back in June, Price will be looking to claim his third victory at the 2022 event.

“I’m really looking forward to Dakar 2022. This year’s race didn’t go too well for me, crashing out on stage nine. I was sitting in a good place, so it was tough to have to retire,” Price explained.

“The plan for the next one is similar to those I’ve had in the past to be honest – make it safely to the rest day in a solid position, stay in contention, and try to let the days come to me. On the days that we need to push, we’ll really go for it. It’s easy to make a plan, but the rally is always changing day-by-day, you have to be able to adapt.

“I’m feeling really good now, and the work on the new bike is definitely going in the right direction. All being well we should be in the mix, and I can’t wait to go racing again with the Red Bull KTM team!”