Trail Bike Adventure Magazine

Toby Price Is A4DE Champion

Monday, 12 April 2010 08:13

Motorex KTM's Toby Price has wrapped up the outright win in the 2010 Yamaha Australian 4-Day Enduro, which concluded yesterday near Lithgow, NSW.

Price took the lead on day three after Five-time world champion, Stefan Merriman surrenderd his lead after crashing. Merriman had been the only other rider to lead and still finished second outright.

"I’m stoked that all my hard work has paid off with a win at the A4DE", said Price. "Hat’s off to my Motorex KTM Off-Road Racing team mates, race team manager, mechanics and supporters who put in an amazing effort to ensure everyone had a great ride. It was a team effort, and these guys really helped me achieve my outright win."

"The A4DE didn’t start as planned, and I had a crash on day one, but I just told myself that’s part of racing and continued on chasing Stefan Merriman, who was leading the E2 class and outright."

"The second day went well, and I lost a little bit of time to Merriman, but the third day I picked it up, and worked out what to do, and it all went from there. I got a good start in the final moto, and was sitting in second for a bit on a lap, but then everything clicked and I got it together and zoned in for the win."

"The terrain was awesome we were lucky to have had the rain moulding the tracks to near perfect condition. The KTM 450 EXC was an unbelievable bike, and it did its job to get me across the line in first. It’s all in the set up of the bike to help you feel comfortable and the KTM boys had my set up perfect, and I just feel really thankful to them for that."

"This is my first ever A4DE win, I came close last year as runner up and thankfully this year the dream came true," Price concluded.

Photo above: Toby Price gets some words of wisdom from his experienced team manager Brad Williscroft. Credit : gobadirt.com

Merriman enjoyed the event but was honest in his apraisel of his runner up spot.

"I tried my hardest, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to win," he said.

"The crash was a bit of a pain… Toby and I were having a good battle and were within a few seconds of each other every test. I did enjoy the event, it was the best I’ve ridden in Australia and the conditions were ideal."

Last years winner Jarrod Bewley won the Pro E1 class and finished third outright, "I felt over the whole four days I put in a solid effort," said Bewley. "I led the E1 class for most days, and only had some pressure from a young guy who was keeping me honest. I had no crashes in any special test, and the KTM 250 EXC F ran awesome. The Motorex KTM Off-Road Racing team are really to be commended on a great racing environment, and an awesome support network. Everyone put in to making this a great A4DE," Bewley concluded.

For the Motorex KTM Off-Road team the 2010 A4DE was a great success with their E3 class rider Ben Grabham also taking his class win after riding consistent over the four days, with him saying, "My main goal was to win the E3 class and I achieved that goal for both myself and KTM. I had a really consistent four days, and I didn’t crash at all.  I haven’t ridden the KTM 530 EXC in this event before, and I was probably higher up outright than I thought I’d be, especially since I was just really focused on the class win."

Moterex KTM team manager and Vets+35 class winner Brad Williscroft was all smiles after the final motos were finished after experiencing one of the most successful overall results for the team, with him saying afterwards, "I had a fun A4DE, and really enjoyed the special tests, and the course was unreal. It was a pretty easy ride in the Vets + 35 class, and the KTM 530 EXC handled the conditions with ease.  I didn’t do anything silly, and had no crashes the whole event which paid off with the Vets + 35 class win."

"The Oyster Bay Motorcycle Club is to be commended on their coordination of the event.  They’re one of the most professional and well respected clubs in NSW, and this event just stamps their authority as leaders of enduro event coordination."

"From a Race Team Managers perspective, I can’t wipe the smile off my face.  I couldn’t be happier with the KTM boys, and the effort they put in throughout the entire event.  They all trained hard leading up to the A4DE, and it showed in their results."

“Outright winner Toby Price didn’t start off the best with a crash in his first special test, and that put him back a little compared to Merriman who had a really good first few days.  To Toby’s credit he just kept his head about him, and came out on day three to blitz it.  Toby had a 25 second lead going into the final day, and led the final day again by another 15 seconds over Stefan Merriman.  He rode awesome, and totally deserved the win."

"A big thanks go out to our entire team who worked collectively to reward KTM with four class wins and the outright title.  We also took home the trade team win - well done boys."

Top 10 results outright

Toby Price E2 KTM
Stefan Merriman E2 Yamaha
Jarrod Bewley E1 KTM
Daniel Milner E2 Yamaha
Ben Grabham E3 KTM
Kirk Hutton E2 Yamaha
Matthew Phillips E1 Honda
Jason Davis E2
Geoff Braico E3 Husaberg
Rory Mead E2 Yamaha

Full results can be found 'here'

Toby Price blasting his way to victory at the A4DE. Photo: Leigh Hutton

Toby congratulated by his Dad after the final grass track moto was over. Photo: gobadirt.com

Young Tasmanian Honda rider Mathew Phillips pushed hard in the E1 class, but his outstanding ride in the final  grass  track moto wasn't enough to catch class winner, and third outright KTM rider Jarrod Bewley.

Motorex KTM team manager and Vets+35 rider Brad Williscroft won his class and was all smiles with his teams success. Photo: gobadirt.com

Geoff Ballard did a great job of marking out the final days grass track. It was perfect for rider's and spectators. Photo: gobadirt.com