DIRT NEWS
RALLY-RAID CHAMPIONSHIP GOES TO THE WIRE
The World Rally-Raid Championship went down to the final round in Morocco with Toby Price battling against Husqvarna ’ s Luciano Benevides for the 2023 title . In addition to the fight for the championship title , the Moroccan sands proved too much for many of the big names in the rally , with both Honda ’ s Skyler Howes and GasGas ’ reigning world champion Sam Sunderland coming unstuck during the prologue . Sunderland made the start of Stage One but continued his horror season dropping out of the race . Also dropping out before the final stage were Honda ’ s Ricky Brabec who suffered a mechanical failure , and KTM ’ s Mattias Walkner who crashed out on Stage Three . Toby Price entered the rally just 9 points behind the Argentinian rider , but the Aussie wasn ’ t in full health having sustained a throat injury which dogged him throughout the opening stages of the rally . In fact , the 2023 season has been one of mixed fortunes for Price , but the two-time Dakar Champion has carried his fight all the way to the final round . Second at the Dakar Rally , missing
out on the win by just 44 seconds to Red Bull KTM teammate Kevin Benavides , Price then took the world championship lead with third place at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge . A fourth place at the Sonora Rally saw him extend that lead before an unfortunate technical issue at the Desafio Ruta 40 cost him time and his championship advantage . Knowing he had to win at the Rallye du Maroc , Price gave it everything and came out on top after an impressive performance on the short 157-kilometre stage five of the Rallye du Maroc . Going third into the stage , the Australian was able to navigate cleanly through the iconic Merzouga dunes of the Moroccan Sahara Desert to bring his KTM 450 RALLY home in sixth place and take the overall win for the Rally . “ Yeah , It was a really good stage ! I had one little mishap but other than that I ’ m happy to have won the round here in Morocco ,” Price said . “ The championship is a hard one to swallow , we put up a good fight and did everything we could but 2023 just hasn ’ t been the greatest season for us . I ’ m happy in the fact that I never gave up and
92 KIWI RIDER