Motorex KTM Off Road Racing is on target to defend its Finke Desert Race title this weekend when the 36th running of the historic Northern Territory event takes place on 11-13 June.

Defending bike champion Toby Price, who is also the reigning Australian Off Road Champion, will be aiming for a second consecutive crown, but he’ll have his hands full with KTM teammate Ben Grabham, himself a former three-time winner of the event.

Also making up KTM’s impressive line-up is AORC team regular Jarrod Bewley, plus Kamfari Mud Race winner Brad Williscroft, who again will trade his team manager status in for a return to racing.

The all-important Prologue will take place tomorrow on Saturday, 11 June, before the official race gets underway on Sunday, 12 June, with a mammoth 226-kilometre trek from Alice Springs to Finke.

Monday, 13 June, will see the race conclude with a reverse trip from Finke back to Alice Springs, the winner of the 2011 title finalised in what has become one of the most prestigious off-road events of the year.

Last year saw 23-year-old Price with by over 10 minutes after he completed the race in four hours, three minutes and 25 seconds, and he’s relishing the challenge of taking two from two following his win as a rookie in 2010.

“This race is a massive event for us, definitely one that the team wants to try and win to get our name on that trophy,” Price said. “We’ve been working hard testing for the event, so we’re really looking forward to it.

“Hopefully I can keep the title in my hands, but we’ll have to see what the race brings – it’s just so unpredictable. There’s been a lot of organisation for the pit stops and race strategy, so I look forward to the challenge that lies ahead.”

Price last season became only the third rider in the race’s history to take victory in his first attempt.

Meanwhile, after disappointing non-finishes last year, both Grabham and Williscroft are poised to make their mark on the event in 2011. The pair finished 1-2 in 2009, more than capable of battling Price for the top spot this weekend.

For Bewley, the current national title leader in the E3 category of the AORC, this weekend marks his Finke Desert Race debut as part of the all-star KTM squad, and his preparations are well on track after working closely with the team in the lead-up to race time.

“We have put a lot of preparation into this event, coming up here to prepare in March and then again in May,” Williscroft explained. “We’ve spent the past week fine tuning the settings and all of the boys are looking good, fit and healthy ready to go.

“I’m confident that, everything going well, we should have a great event. There’s so much that goes into the event, probably more preparation goes into this event than the entire national series combined. The logistics of it are huge.

“The team mechanics have been putting in overtime preparing, really working hard, and all of the riders have been working on setting up the bikes in testing. Grabbo is really determined after last year and Toby is the defending champion, so we really expect a great chance to do well.

“A major thing with the Finke race is that we race as a team, if any of the boys can’t win then we’ll do everything that we can to make sure our teammates will have a good chance at taking it out – it’s a real team event for us.”

Motorex KTM Off Road Racing has been in Alice Springs for the past 10 days testing and preparing for the race to come this weekend.