Australian off-road ace Toby Price has a mega year coming up in 2013, combining his usual Australian duties with a trio of high profile Baja races in what he hopes will be a platform for him to move to America full time in 12 months time.

Price will ride for the factory KTM team in the San Filepe 250, the Baja 500 and the epic Baja 1000, which he attended this year in a back-up role for the team. Since then Price has practically fallen in love with the Baja events, but the real bonus is that he wants a foot in the door for a full time off-road seat with KTM in the US.

“Last week it all got sorted out, so I’m glad to get a deal done with the factory KTM deal, which will see me compete in the Baja 250, 500 and 1000,” Price told MotoOnline. “I’m hoping it will open doors, it’s definitely a good stepping stone across to the States to try and show what I can do in some of the desert racing. We’ll just wait and see, but that’s my goal to race over there full time, hopefully by 2014.”

Along with his contract in the US, Price has renewed with KTM Australia and will defend his AORC, Finke and Hattah titles, plus he’ll again go for the A4DE title. It’s going to be a busy one for Toby, but you get the feeling that he wouldn’t have it any other way!

“We’ve signed the deal, got it all sorted and it all worked out really well along with the Baja deal,” he continued. “That’s what I was holing out for, the Americans had been speaking to me for a little while now, so it’s nice to do another deal with the guys at KTM Australia as well. We’ll try do what we usually do, get some more wins on the board and then hopefully end up racing overseas full time after this Baja deal.”

Toby deserves it too, because in reality, he’s Australia’s leading guy and has been the standout since he first won the Australian Off-Road Championship as a rookie in 2009. Combined with his 2010 and 2012 titles, not to mention his Finke, Hattah and A4DE success, Price is definitely one of our best in the bush.

Price, teammate Chris Hollis, Daniel Milner and more were at Motorcycling Australia’s annual AIS camp earlier this week, learning about fitness and kick-starting their 2013 programs under the guidance of legends such as Stephen Gall. I’ve got a feeling this year is going to be one of the most competitive yet in the national off-roads.

In other American news before we wrap this up, Josh Strang this week began his transition back to the East Coast for the 2013 Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series, where he’ll ride a private Kawasaki. Strang initially moved out to California to be close to the industry, however since he’ll be racing solo back east, he’s put his house up for rent and left on Monday. He deserves to do good and hopefully Kawasaki rewards him for the effort put forward this season.