Fresh from a win at the Tatts Finke Desert Race on two wheels, Toby Price made his mark on the DEWALT SXS Australian Championship on four wheels today in Albury. Trading his KTM for a CanAm Maverick X3, Price quickly settled into the groove and showed his pace during the heats and semi finals, setting the quickest lap of the weekend in the process.
After battling early with Stephen Henry, Simon Evans and Tadamitsu Nihori in the grand finale, Toby Price muscled his way into the lead and showed the field a clean set of heels to take the outright win in the #87 CanAm. Simon Evans was at his spectacular best to pilot his #360 Polaris RZR Turbo into second outright and maintain his stranglehold on the championship, ahead of Japan’s high flying Tadamitsu Niihori in third outright.
“It is definitely different to the two wheel desert racing, but we have been lucky enough to do some racing on four wheels with the trophy truck. For our first one here at the SXS Australian Championship it was very similar to riding a bike. They’re very agile little machines that can do some amazing stuff and I’m just happy I didn’t put it on it’s back and sit there like a stranded turtle. That was the main goal. I wanted to put some pressure on and I am pumped to come away with the win.” Said Toby Price, continuing “The short five lap sprints where you have to be on pace, plus the joker lane thrown into the mix as well, you really need to stay sharp with it and make sure you get through to the end. The format of racing here is fun and I definitely think people should come out and try it. I’ve enjoyed it and I definitely want to come back out and do more of it.”
Polaris took a clean sweep of the podium in the SXS Sport Class with Mitch Keyte keeping the hard charging Tom Evans at bay to take the class win during the closing stages of the event. While Stephen Gregory continued his good form in his debut season, driving the Young Veterans RZR 1000XP to third in class.
The DEWALT SXS Australian Championship heads north for round 4 on August 25th, with the teams returning to Queensland Moto Park to battle it out. For more information visit sxs-racing.com
