Red Bull KTM’s Toby Price wins the 2016 Dakar Rally. He became the first Australian to win Dakar in any category. This was KTM’s 15th consecutive overall victory in the Dakar Rally. Toby Price dominated the overall timing sheet and finished 39minutes, 1 seconds ahead of KTM’s Stefan Svitko followed the Rockstar Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla in third.
Toby Price said – “Winning in my second participation is awesome, but being the first Australian to win the Dakar is just insane, I would’ve never imagined this two years ago. Finishing the rally is already a triumph. Winning it is amazing! I tackled the race in true Aussie style. I attacked when I had to, when the time was right, and I kept an eye on my bike during the all-important marathon stages. I also navigated quite well. I hope this is just the start, to win again. It won’t be easy, so I’ve got to savor this victory.”
Toby Price finished 4th in the final stage in Argentina. This was his second attempt at the Dakar. In April 2013 during a race he broke three vertebrae in his neck, narrowly avoiding becoming a quadriplegic. “I was very, very lucky to get back on my feet and walk again, let alone get back on a dirt bike. My main goal was getting back on the dirt bike and starting to ride again.”
Toby Price made his debut attempt in the grulling Dakar Rally last year and finished at 3rd place overall. Following that performance he signed for the Red Bull KTM team, whom he raced for during this year’s victory.
Rockstar Husqvarna factory rider Pablo Quintanilla wrapped up his 2016 Dakar Rally on Saturday on a high note with a victory in the final stage 13 that also secured him third overall in the rally raid. Quintanilla completed the final stage in 1hour 15 minutes to finish in the overall rankings behind Toby Price of Australia and Slovakia’s Stefan Svitko.
Pablo Quintanilla said – The last stage was extremely hard. There was a lot of tension and nerves before the start. The entire race came down to this one stage. I started fast and, thanks to today and the team’s work we defended our third place. I’m delighted. It was such a tough Dakar that we had to fight for the podium the last day, which is usually an opportunity to kick back and relax. For me, the last stage was the toughest, the most nerve-wracking one in the entire rally. I was hurt before the rally, but professional work helps you overcome that. The investment paid off today.
Red Bull KTM Factory racer and Dakar rookie Antoine Meo finished in 7th place overall. Meo’s standout performance in his rookie year mimics that of Price in 2015.
Antoine Meo is a five-time enduro world champion. He scored two stage wins in Dakar this year. During the stage 12 he lost his way and then suffered a disastrous off just a few kilometres from the finish line.
The day’s stage victory went to Pablo Quintanilla with Honda’s Kevin Benavides in second and Yamaha’s Helder Rodrigues at third. The final stage took riders from villa Carlos Paz to Rosario but the end result came quite quickly because the timed special was at the beginning of Stage 13, after which riders had to continue the rest of the 699km distance to the ceremonial finish.
Sherco TVS rider Florent Vayssade finished the 2016 Dakar Rally at 27th place in overall ranking, 8hours 17 minutes behind Toby Price. He finished 27th in the 180kms final stage. While the Sherco TVS lead rider Alain Duclos was 42nd overall and 23rd in the final stage. He lost precious time in the previous stage due to helmet theft.
The Dakar 2016 was confronted with many difficulties. In the planning stage both Chile and Peru withdrew from the competition because they rightly anticipated possible severe weather disruptions from the El Nino weather effect. This left Argentina and Bolivia on the program, but even these countries felt the negative force of the recurring weather phenomenon. Thunderstorms and floods plagued the rally, particularly the first week, and intense temperatures in the second week resulted in several stages being shortened. In Bolivia riders competed at altitudes of up to 4,500 m and while the first half of the rally was very fast, stages got increasingly complicated, with much more navigation in the second week.
