2018 Desafio Ruta 40 Rally

Stage Two

Toby Price has won an exhausting stage two of the 2018 Desafio Ruta 40 rally by just over two-minutes from his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate Matthias Walkner.

Tuesday’s stage win elevates Price to the top of the provisional overall standings with three days remaining.

Comprising a route of close to 80% off-piste terrain, stage two of the Desafio Ruta 40 has proven to be one of the toughest days of the 2018 championship so far. Despite being relatively short with a timed special measuring 317.74km, the rough nature of the stage really tested the riders’ strength and endurance to their limits.

Following his fourth place on Monday’s stage one, Toby Price set off from the bivouac Tuesday morning with the aim of making up time lost due to a faulty GPS tracker. With his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate setting off three minutes ahead, Price pushed right from the start and made up the deficit by the stage’s halfway point.

Riding a smooth but fast pace over the technical terrain, the Australian’s time of just under four hours 17-minutes was enough to take the stage win and in turn, the lead in the provisional overall standings.

Toby Price

“That was a much better stage for me, although it was extremely tiring due to the nature of the route. There was a lot of off-track work through fesh-fesh and camel grass and it really took it out of you physically. With no GPS issues I was able to push hard today and caught the guys in front by the neutralisation. After that I kept to a good solid pace and aimed to ride as smooth as possible to stay safe and conserve some energy. I’ll get rested up now and hopefully tomorrow will be a little easier on the body.”