Sports News Sunraysia with Sammy Smythe

'King of the Desert' Toby Price has announced he will again attempt the ‘Iron Man’ Finke Double at the 2018 Tatts Finke Desert Race, in Alice Springs, aiming to make history by winning both car and motorcycle categories.

Price attempted the double for the first time in 2016 and successfully won the motorcycle category, tying him for the most wins in Finke history, but was runnerup in his first attempt in the car category.

In 2017, Price was unable to defend his 2016 motorcycle win due to a femur injury sustained at the Dakar Rally, but drove in the Truck category, only to stop 40km short of the finish line with an engine sensor failure.

The Australian finished 3rd in the 2018 Dakar Rally in January and has had valuable seat time in Trophy Trucks in America and is this year hoping to eclipse the motorcycle categories win record with a sixth win and be the first to claim the Finke Double with a win in the truck category as well.

This year, Price will first run in the Truck Category on Day 1 from Alice Springs to Finke and fly back to the start line in a light aircraft in time for the Motorcycle leg to begin and repeat the 230km ride for the second time.

Price will follow the same procedure on Day 2 driving from Finke to Alice Springs in his Red Bull Trophy Truck and then return to the start line via a light aircraft to complete the Motorcycle leg.

Price is ecstatic to again attempt the ‘Iron Man’ Finke Double and is eager to become the first to claim the title that has escaped him previously.

"Since I attempted the Double in 2016 and we didn't claim the win in the truck category, I’ve been extremely keen to try again and was gutted when I was injured last year and couldn't do the bike. We've had a couple of months to prepare for the truck and the bike and I'm feeling good. I can't wait to get out and do our first test with the truck, this is going to be extremely challenging but rewarding if we can get it done,” Price said.

Being able to complete the feat again will be no easy task, and the prospect of Price taking out first place in both categories could potentially never be matched again.

“This is a tough ask of any competitor to compete and finish the car section, fly back along the track to the start line and then compete in the bike section,” said Antony Yoffa, President of the Finke Desert Race Club.

“Then they do the same again on Race Day 2 – this is no easy feat with 900kms covered over the two days if all legs are completed! If Toby is able to win both categories it will be an amazing story to come out of the 2018 event.”

The Tatts Finke Desert Race will run from June 8-11 through the desert country from Alice Springs to the small Finke community in Aputula.

Motorcycling Australia (MA) have announced the Speedway of Nations Team who will represent Australia at the 2018 Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations (SON) at Manchester’s National Speedway Stadium on June 5.

The pairing of 2017 Speedway Grand Prix World Champion Jason Doyle and 2016 Under 21 Speedway World Champion Max Fricke have been chosen to lead the team with Australian under 21 Speedway champion Jaimon Lidsey backing up the team as the reserve for the race off at Manchester in June.

 
Australia will face off against hosts Great Britain, Sweden, Czech Republic, France, Italy and Finland as the nation’s battle it out for a top two finish to book an automatic spot at the SON finals in Wroclaw on June 8 and 9. The nations finishing between third and fifth will then race off for the final spot in the finals in Wroclaw.
 
This will be the debut event for SON as it takes over from the Speedway World Cup which has been running since 2001. Australia won the inaugural Speedway World Cup and will be looking to take out the first running of the SON.
 
Mark Lemon will once again take on the responsibility as team manager for Australia and the pairing of World Champion Doyle with Manchester and Wroclaw track specialist Fricke, is an exciting combination. 

Fricke can't wait to represent Australia at the SON, "I’m proud to have been named to represent Australia in the Speedway of Nations event together with current World Champion Doyle, and Lidsey as our reserve.  It’s a real honour to be chosen and competition will be immense and I can’t wait to get out there on June 5," finished Fricke. 

Doyle will take over the captaincy from Chris Holder who was unavailable for the SON due to a hold up with his passport whilst waiting for a visa. 

MA encourages all Australians to support the Team as they compete against the world's best.  Fox Sports will cover the series or stay up to date via the Motorcycling Australia website.