Motorex KTM Off Road Racing’s defending Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race Champion Toby Price has set the fastest bike time during the prologue qualifying session on Saturday.

Price, riding his Class Five KTM 450 SX-F, completed the eight-kilometre course in a scorching time of four minutes and 42 seconds.

It was an ultra-quick lap of the prologue circuit, around 15 seconds faster than the time set last year by teammate Ben Grabham.

As a non-finisher last year Grabham had to ride in class this year and wait two hours after Price to attack the course and set his time.

Aboard the #X98 KTM and under different track conditions, the three-time Finke winner finished considerably short of the pole time with a ‘lap’ of 4:49sec.

Local honours were upheld by Alice Springs rider Jack Dooley-Mcdonnell on his Yamaha, who was third fastest with a time of 4:50sec.

Queenslander Simon Thompson on the # X95 Honda CRF450R took the fourth position at a time of 4:54sec, while Honda’s Todd Smith completed the top five.

The times set today over the eight-kilometre prologue track determines the start order for Sunday’s opening leg of the 2011 Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race, with the field travelling from the Alice Springs start to Finke over a distance of 226 kilometres.

Competitors will camp overnight at Finke before making the return trip to the Alice Springs finish line on Monday.