Desert Racing

Toby Price Kicks Of Hattah Desert Race Defence With Narrow Prologue Victory

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Saturday, July 4th, 2015

3:49 PM

KTM Australia Off-Road Racings Toby Price has kicked off his Penrite Oils Hattah Desert race defence in the best possible way claiming the win in this mornings Prologue by a single second when action got underway just outside of Mildura, Victoria.

Price, edged out team-mate Tye Simmonds by 1.002 seconds with a lap time of 2 minutes and 59 seconds and will now lead the field off when the race proper gets underway tomorrow, with riders racing seven laps of a 40km sand loop that will test both their outright speed and fitness.

While Price was happy to sneak to this years prologue win, he knows tomorrow is the day that counts and is looking forward to defending his Hattah Desert Race title.

"We are looking forward to the race tomorrow, at this point in time we are only .5% through the race, there is still a long way to go." Price stated after his winning prologue run.

"I made a couple of little mistakes out there then, running off the track near the end there, but I think it happens to all of us when the adrenalin is pumping and we are holding the throttle on. But we put in a good lap and sitting on pole which is great position to start from tomorrow.

"Going by the prologue, we should have a little moisture out there to start with tomorrow which will be good, but there will be some sections out there that will be dusty, tight and technical. We will just see how things play out tomorrow, that is all we can do, we will put on a good charge and see where it leads to tomorrow afternoon." Price concluded.

Tye Simmonds finished second in this morning's prolouge and will be a rider to watch when racing gets underway tomorrow. - Credit: Scott Knight

Simmonds second place finish was an impressive result for the rider who has only once before competed at this event. Simmonds who last raced Hattah as a 17 year old back in 2008 edged out Honda's Jocob Smith by less than two-tenths of a second.

Active8 Yamalube Yamaha's Josh Green posted the fourth fastest time, while KTM Off-Road Racing's Daniel Sanders led the way for the two-stroke fans firing his KTM 300-EXC into the top five.

Local favourite Nathan Trigg finished the prolouge in 6th, one-second ahead of the Factory Husqvarna pairing of Glenn Kearney and Lachlan Stanford, while Lachlan Terry (9th) and KTM's Louis Calvin (10th) rounded out the top ten.

While the 350 plus senior competitors only spent a few minutes on track today, over 200 juniors lined up in the early hours of this morning to complete their prologue before returning to the track in the afternoon for racing action.

In the 85-150 Small Wheel class it was Tyran Tomich who raced to a 1 minute and 3 second win ahead of Will Riordan, with Samuel Pretscherer rounding out the podium. Cody Chittick, scored the win in the 65cc 9-13 class ahead of Angus Riordan and Jacob Sweet, while Chad Girys lead home Levi Stephens and Ethan Alderton in the younger 65cc class.

In the Girls 7-12 year race, Madi Healey secured the race win ahead of Chloe Barton, with Montana Bardel rounded out the top three.

The older Junior classes are currently in action with Callum Norton currently leading from Ben Kearns and Liam Mason. We will update the remainder of the junior results as soon as official race results are available at the conclusion of the race.

2015 Penrite Oils Hattah Desert Race To 20 Prologue Times
1. Toby PRICE - 2:59.772
2. Tye SIMMONDS - 3:00.774
3. Jacob SMITH - 3:00.938
4. Josh GREEN - 3:03.715
5. Daniel SANDERS - 3:05.006
6. Nathan TRIGG - 3:05.182
7. Glenn KEARNEY - 3:06.193
8. Lachlan STANFORD - 3:06.368
9. Lachlan TERRY - 3:06.532
10. Louis CALVIN - 3:07.300
11. Beau RALSTON - 3:07.415
12. Jarrod BEWLEY - 3:07.925
13. Peter BOYLE - 3:11.876
14. Alex BOLTON - 3:11.919
15. David WALSH - 3:12.782
16. Lyndon SNODGRASS - 3:14.336
17. Nic TOMLINSON - 3:14.342
18. Justin CARAFA - 3:14.545
19. Cody RYAN - 3:15.295
20. Geoff BRAICO - 3:15.445

For Full Senior Prologue Results: CLICK HERE

For full junior prologue and race results: CLICK HERE

LIVE timing for tomorrows race can also be found at https://www.computime.com.au/

Top Image: Toby Price rockets through the first turn on his way to winning this morning prologue

Credit: Scott Knight