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One of the most courageous stories from this year's Dakar Rally, held solely in Peru has been that of Toby Price.
Driving for KTM, Australia’s off-road hero won the bike category by finishing the race in 33 hours, 57 minutes and 16 seconds and winning a dramatic final stage in Lima.
Dakar tests and tortures every contestant across every category, but it was especially taxing for Price who was soldering on, on a barely recovered wrist.
Price came into the race under a significant injury cloud, having broken the scaphoid bone in his right wrist just weeks prior to the flag going down in Peru.
The bike class saw Red Bull Factory KTM Rally Team's Price eke out his second Dakar win after winning the final stage, and his first.
The Queenslander added to his first Dakar Rally win from 2016 with a lucky, come from behind win. Price came to the 10th and final stage after racing almost 5,200 kilometres with only one minute's lead over Chilean rider, Pablo Quintanilla.
Just 10 kilometres into the dune-heavy, 112-kilometre final stage course from Pisco to the Peruvian capital of Lima, Quintanilla fell off his bike, losing 19 minutes to drop to fourth overall, leaving Price to claim the stage win.
The Australian initially wanted to pull out after two stages but the wave of support from back home kept him going. A pumped and ecstatic Price acknowledged the role of the support and luck he got in the hour of his greatest triumph.
“It’s very crazy to sit here and say that we won the Dakar rally with no stage victories until today. It’s really crazy. I’m over the moon, I’m so damned stoked. It’s been a long 10 days. Now I’ll just wait and see what damage I’ve done to my wrist. Pretty much all I can say is that it feels like there are about five people driving a knife in my wrist now. It’s not very comfortable, it’s not very enjoyable, but at the end of the day the victory has paid off.
At the end of the day, the pain and torture has been worth it. The support from everyone back home in Australia and then having some things go my way and a bit of luck, it just worked out in the end. It’s been an unreal rally."
