Price fastest in first leg of Finke Desert Race

Toby Price is in the box seat for a third straight Tatts Finke Desert Race victory after setting the fastest time in Leg 1 in the Cars.

The eight-time King of the Desert, including six times on a KTM in the Bikes, led the field down the 226km track to Aputula (Finke) given he was quickest also in the Prologue in Alice Springs.

He was almost two minutes slower than his record-breaking Leg 1 effort in 2022, but the time of 1:38:35.3s in his trophy truck was 3:34.334s faster than that of his nearest rival on the day, namely Travis Robinson.

“The moisture has been good for the race, but the moisture is a lot harder on the equipment,” said Price, who is entered in the Extreme 2WD class.

“We’re just trying to be smooth, easy, and trying to get through and have a good run, and we’ve done that. It feels like at the moment we’re doing good on time.

“It’s hard to be from the front, you just don’t know what’s going on behind you, you don’t know if you’re going fast enough or too slow, it’s a bit of a guessing game.”

Travis Robinson topped Pro Buggy, finishing the day 1:04.756s faster than class rival Shannon Rentsch, who was third outright, five positions higher than where he finished in the Prologue.

Greg Gartner (Extreme 2WD) was fourth-quickest, from Joshua Howells (Pro Buggy), Brent Smoothy (Extreme 4WD), Brent Martin (Prolite Buggy), Mark Burrows (Pro Buggy), Beau Robinson (Extreme 2WD), and Phil Lovett (Extreme 4WD).

Beau Robinson had finished second to Price by only 2.257s in the Prologue but crashed 77km into the day, recording a force of 3G, before getting going again.

Aaron James (Pro Buggy), fifth in the Prologue, fared even worse.

He rolled during his drive down to Aputula and is a DNF.

Cars are still arriving at the overnight stop, including for Ford Performance/Walkinshaw Performance Ranger Raptor which was especially speedy in the Production 4WD class in the Prologue.

CLICK HERE for an in-depth look at the Ranger Raptor

The Cars field will start the return journey to Alice Springs tomorrow at 07:15 local time/07:45 AEST, with the first due to arrive at 09:05 local time.

Results: Leg 1 Top 10