News 21 Aug 2014

Price on target for $20K pay day at Desert Tri-Series finale

Clean-sweep bonus within reach for KTM Desert Racing Team rider.

Image: Nils Friedrich.

Image: Nils Friedrich.

KTM Desert Racing Team’s Toby Price will clinch a $20,000 clean-sweep bonus if he can capture victory at this weekend’s Indee 500, the final round of the Desert Tri-Series in Western Australia.

KTM’s brand new Desert Racing Team is closing in on a maiden Desert Tri-Series win to go along with its Finke and Hattah trophies, entering this weekend’s final round hosted at Indee Station by the Port Hedland Motorcycle Club.

With a bonus up for grabs to any rider that can claim all three round wins, Price is in the box seat after surging to wins at rounds one and two earlier this year.

“Time to switch modes again. I’m coming out of the Four-Day with no injuries which is good,” Price said. “We’ll go there, see how we do and see if we can get a win over there. The 20 grand is up for grabs for me, so we’ll see how we go – it might come good and it might not.

“All I’ve really heard about the Indee 500 is that it’s a race where we can’t really make too many mistakes. Apparently there’s some nice big and hills and trees that are worth avoiding, so we’ve got to make sure we are on point and good to go.”

If Price or teammate Ivan Long are able to wrap up the series, it will be KTM’s second Tri-Series victory in the two-year history of the concept, following Ben Grabham’s runaway victory in the inaugural series last year.

The KTM Desert Racing Team will again give the round its full support with a three rider entry that also includes WA motocross ace Louis Calvin, filling in for team manager Grabham, who is recovering from surgery to his hand.

The series challenges competitors with three days of desert racing action per round, utilising a 10-kilometre Prologue on the Friday followed by approximately 500 kilometres of racing across Saturday and Sunday, incorporating everything from wide-open desert expanses to slower more technical terrain like riverbed, hills and rock outcrops.

This weekend’s event will carry special significance, firstly as the 10th running of the Indee 500, and secondly as a chance for Price to take the $20,000 bonus prize for winning all three rounds. KTM’s Grabham won the bonus in last year’s inaugural s series.

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