KTM drops two-time Dakar winner Toby Price from factory programme
Two-time Dakar Rally winner Toby Price has announced he will part ways with the factory KTM team after nearly a decade with the Austrian bike manufacturer.
The 36-year-old said in a social media post on Tuesday that KTM had decided not to renew his contract following the 46th running of Dakar in January.
"KTM has decided to not renew my contract so Dakar 2024 was my last event with them… I do feel like I'm still in my prime and going out there fighting for wins, especially at Dakar so it's unfortunate to not have that opportunity to do it in 2025," Price wrote.
"But I'm really appreciative of the support they gave me in my career. We've been able to do some great things together like win two Dakars and get a couple podiums, a World Championship and our success in Australia too."
The news marks the end of a relationship that has stretched to almost 15 years, with KTM having backed the Australian since 2010 when he used to compete in homegrown rally championships.
After further success in Europe and North America on KTM machinery, Price made his Dakar debut in 2015 astride a KTM 450 Rally, scoring a stage win in the tough terrains of Argentina en route to third in the overall standings.
That outing earned him a seat on the Red Bull-backed KTM Factory Team in 2016, when he dominated proceedings to become the first Australian to win the Dakar outright.
A second victory in the world's toughest rally raid would follow in 2019, despite a wrist injury that he had been carrying since a training event in the run-up to the event.
#2 Red Bull KTM Factory: Toby Price
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
It was also the last in KTM's streak of 19 successive victories in Dakar, with the Austrian manufacturer getting outshone by Honda in 2020 after the event moved to Saudi Arabia.
Despite two podium finishes, Price hasn't enjoyed as much success in the latest chapter of the marathon in the Middle East, with 2022 marking the last time he scored a stage win. A broken collarbone caused by a crash during the 2021 running of the event didn't help his cause.
In recent years, Price has shown a strong desire to move more towards four-wheel competition, tackling a series of Baja events as well as competing in the Finke Desert race in Australia - winning three events on the trot in the latter.
However, he parted ways with Mitsubishi at the end of last year, citing a lack of active programmes in Dakar as the reason for their split.
It remains unclear if Price could join a rival manufacturer to KTM and elongate in Dakar bikes career for a few more years, or make an immediate switch to the cars category.
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