Latest / Rusty's Garage / Toby Price Part 1 | 2018 Revisit

Transcript

Toby Price Part 1 | 2018 Revisit · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:15
  I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust and this is Rusty's Garage.
• 0:28
  For this ep, I'm in a workshop on the Gold Coast.
• 0:31
  It's where I've found legendary Aussie off-road racer Toby Price, who's taken a break from changing an engine to talk to me.
• 0:39
  He seems right at home with grease on his hands, from a crash that almost ended his career to winning Dakar, the most gruelling race on the planet.
• 0:48
  And that love of outback racing runs in the family.
• 0:52
  From a very young age, I was pretty much riding the mix of everything.
• 0:56
  So my mum and dad always pretty much said if something was going to blow up, it would take off my face first because I was always in there trying to learn and be in between it all and seeing what dad was doing.
• 1:07
  But yeah, riding a motorcycle from a young age, it's always been...
• 1:11
  if you can't fix it, you're not allowed to ride it.
• 1:13
  So that was pretty much the type of thing.
• 1:14
  So Dad always, yeah, got me hands-on with all the equipment and learning bits and pieces along the way.
• 1:20
  But still, there's still endless amounts of stuff I need to learn.
• 1:24
  And, yeah, this trophy truck definitely has opened my eyes to a whole different world.
• 1:30
  But, no, we still love working on bikes and still getting the hands dirty and getting in between it all.
• 1:34
  So it's good.
• 1:35
  Let's cast our minds back to those early years.
• 1:38
  Can you remember what that first motorbike was and what became of it?
• 1:43
  Yeah, so the very first motorcycle I got to ride was my brother's JR50.
• 1:50
  So it was a little Suzuki.
• 1:53
  Yeah, I remember taking off the first couple of times and actually crashing and, yeah, not really going forward.
• 2:00
  So kind of as a little young kid, I spat it a little bit and stormed off and off I went.
• 2:06
  So Dad just put the bike away in the shed.
• 2:08
  And, yeah, from then on, about two weeks later, I think it was, I come back out and,
• 2:12
  said get the bike out and want to have another go and uh yeah at the end of the day then it just didn't stop was uh took off and um yeah it didn't come back till the bike ran out of fuel so it was uh yeah from a young age i've just i've enjoyed racing motorcycles and um still to this day i'm 30 years old and i still get that same feeling i think from when i was a little young kid riding a bike so it's uh always good to go out and go riding were you a tear away as a youngster mate and then did school kind of take a back seat
• 2:40
  Unfortunately, yes, school is very important.
• 2:42
  I always say to young kids these days, I probably should have listened a little bit more in school and I definitely sat in the classroom looking out the windows and wishing and hoping and dreaming I was out there riding my bike and didn't quite catch too much schoolwork.
• 2:57
  I missed a lot of schoolwork and everything, but yeah, look, I still made year 10, passed all the year 10 exams and everything.
• 3:03
  But like I say, I just scraped through enough to make the pass, and then that was it.
• 3:08
  And then once school was kind of done, it was, yeah, I'd wasted too many years there, and I want to go racing bikes.
• 3:14
  So it was, yeah, it was good.
• 3:16
  I'd grown up in a little country town called Hilston, way out west of New South Wales.
• 3:21
  There wasn't really too many other things to do that distracted your mind with other than riding a motorbike.
• 3:26
  So it was a good place to grow up and enjoy it.
• 3:29
  And yeah, small class I had was like a class of 13 kids.
• 3:33
  So it was quite crazy, but it's been good.
• 3:37
  Racing kind of started for you, I guess, around about the age of four.
• 3:40
  Is that right?
• 3:41
  And where did it take you?
• 3:42
  Were mum and dad and you kind of hitting the road with a trailer and what were you doing?
• 3:46
  Yeah, pretty much.
• 3:47
  It was four years of age is the age you can start racing a motorcycle.
• 3:51
  And it was my uncle, Jeff, he actually called him past a little club day race at Kondoblin and checked it all out, little kids running around on the bikes and stuff.
• 4:04
  And then, yeah, then my uncle pretty much said, oh, we'll probably, because my cousins and that were going to, on the bikes as well, out on the farm.
• 4:12
  And, yeah.
• 4:13
  Jeff said yeah we'll probably take the kids over there and go for a ride and should bring Toby and yeah that's how it just kind of all kicked off we went to the next race there at Condoblin and that was my first race in Condo and I think they said I nearly ended up lapping the whole field in the 50 class so it was yeah it was wide open and full gas from there and then it was yeah actually the club president at the time Jeff Smith who we still know really well now he said come over and
• 4:40
  said to dad hey you probably should take the kid to a like a national like a state championship or something and then uh the next race was on the calendar was uh albury so this is my second race ever and i think yeah i went through and blitzed it there as well and then um yeah i think that's just how it all kind of kicked off and then it's uh yeah like i say the trailer and i think it was a nissan patrol at the time and um away we went and just cruised around australia doing all these like national um motocross events so it was pretty crazy
• 5:07
  What was that first race bike made?
• 5:09
  And, you know, how modified was it?
• 5:12
  Was it a standard thing and you just ragged it?
• 5:14
  What were you doing?
• 5:15
  Yeah, it was just a standard.
• 5:17
  At that time, like I started on that JR50.
• 5:21
  I started going around the farm pretty damn decent.
• 5:24
  And I started snapping the spokes out of the wheels and all the jumps and everything that I was doing.
• 5:28
  So the next thing to step up was the QR50.
• 5:31
  So we got, because they had the steel wheels.
• 5:34
  So I got onto one of those and thinking, yeah, we won't break wheels now.
• 5:37
  Then I started breaking frames.
• 5:39
  So then they said that the Peewee 50, which is a Yamaha, they said is stronger.
• 5:43
  So Dad said, oh, we'll get one of them.
• 5:45
  And then, yeah, ended up breaking the frame of that thing too.
• 5:47
  So Dad being the...
• 5:49
  handyman that he is.
• 5:51
  He basically rewilded the whole frame up, the whole completely different frame to it nearly.
• 5:56
  Really, at that point in time, it didn't set into what you were actually doing.
• 5:59
  You were more, you'd go and race your race and you'd come back and you'd as a little kid, you'd eat whatever you got, chips and meat pies and then you got a dirt bike, you're playing in the dirt and everything.
• 6:11
  It didn't really set into what you were up to, but you enjoyed being around other kids and families and racing bikes and
• 6:18
  And then, yeah, from there, it just kept going and growing.
• 6:22
  And, yeah, it just couldn't really stop then.
• 6:25
  So it was crazy.
• 6:26
  The wheels were literally made in motion, if you'll pardon the pun, because you went on to win junior motocross championships, Australian titles.
• 6:35
  Was that the point where you kind of thought, and maybe even the family thought, wow, this could be something more than just a hobby?
• 6:41
  Yeah, that's it.
• 6:42
  I think one from there on it was, we started winning some state titles and some Australian Junior Long Track Championships in circuit racing and then, yeah, doing some motocross and stuff as well.
• 6:54
  But from the very start, like I was doing circuit racing and long track and short track.
• 7:02
  And, yeah.
• 7:03
  My goals and kind of dreams as a younger kid was like the time I was looking up to Mick Doohan, running the 500cc two-strokes in what they call now MotoGP.
• 7:14
  And, yeah, I wanted to make that switch into that side of things in road racing.
• 7:20
  But unfortunately, yeah, from around that six, seven, eight years of age, I started to grow pretty tall.
• 7:26
  I probably enjoyed too many of those back-at-the-chips and meat pies and stuff.
• 7:31
  And then...
• 7:32
  Yeah, I ended up being a pretty big, solid, decent kid, and I actually had a guest opportunity chance to go and try one of the, I think they were, Murawaki 80s little CC road bikes with Peter Goddard, and yeah.
• 7:49
  Yeah, I think it was all in motion, everything was happening and going the right way.
• 7:53
  And I think about three, four days from when we went to go and test, they actually rang Dad again and said, oh, we've got to ask how tall is Toby and how heavy is he?
• 8:02
  And I think I was a little bit too tall, but I think I was about...
• 8:06
  about 9, 10 kilos too heavy what the cutoff limit was.
• 8:10
  So they were like, whoa, I don't think this is going to work.
• 8:13
  So never got that chance to do that side of things.
• 8:16
  But then that was just kind of when the motocross kicked off and then went to, yeah, a few motocross events, doing well there, won some Australian championships.
• 8:25
  And then...
• 8:26
  Yeah, that was just pretty much then we maybe started to realise that it could be something we do for a job and something full-time.
• 8:33
  So it was, yeah, it's quite crazy.
• 8:35
  Your body frame, I mean, I know you sort of had a little bit of a laugh at yourself then, but your body frame is actually very good for the style of competition that you do now because it is so gruelling, so taxing.
• 8:46
  We'll get to that.
• 8:47
  In about 2009, you start...
• 8:50
  really pressing ahead, I guess, with endurance-style off-road competition.
• 8:56
  Where did that sort of turning point come from, and was there a catalyst that made you think, righto, this is really me?
• 9:04
  Yeah, look, it was once, like I say, the circuit racing kind of stopped for us.
• 9:08
  We went motocross racing and then I wanted to make it to AMA Supercross in America, motocross and Supercross in America.
• 9:15
  And, yeah, I had a bit of a rough trot between probably 2003 to 2007, 2008.
• 9:23
  just with injuries and stuff.
• 9:25
  I signed my contract with the Kawasaki racing team at that point in time when I'd come straight out of juniors into seniors and it was just basically a factory ride but a results based bonus scheme type thing.
• 9:38
  So it wasn't like it wasn't making any money straight up off it but it was, yeah, to come out of juniors into seniors and make money out of it was gonna be quite tough and like I say, yeah, I just had a lot of injuries, a lot of setbacks and a lot of things go wrong and, yeah,
• 9:52
  Then around 2007, I broke the femur in 2003, I think it was, 2004.
• 9:59
  And yeah, I had another crash and I bent the rod that was actually in my right leg and broke one of the screws.
• 10:06
  So then I had 2007 off basically to just get it all fixed up and get it all back to normal because I just couldn't train properly.
• 10:14
  I couldn't ride the bike.
• 10:15
  It was...
• 10:16
  everything hurt from the morning you woke up to when you went to sleep so it was never too much fun and then yeah I made a bit of a last ploy, bit of a chance to it in 2008 and yeah had a bit of a deal back through the main shop that I'd done through all my junior career was J&P Motorcycles in Griffith and they supplied a couple of bikes for me to go and race the Nationals and but then I made that, that year was not too bad, I couldn't
• 10:42
  Didn't quite crack the top ten in the championship due to missing, like, one round in Tasmania, which I couldn't afford to get to myself, being a privateer.
• 10:51
  And then I just basically switched over then.
• 10:54
  Kawasaki said that we can't really offer you the same kind of package with the motocross side of things, but we do have an enduro team.
• 11:01
  Do you want to try that out?
• 11:04
  I kind of... Little... Yeah, young, crazy kid.
• 11:08
  Thought he knew everything and whatnot.
• 11:09
  And it's like, yeah, no, I'm not doing that.
• 11:10
  It's not possible.
• 11:12
  It's not going to happen.
• 11:13
  And then, yeah, I kind of went away for a couple of days and sat and thought about it.
• 11:16
  And I was like, well, I'm not going to get nothing else anywhere.
• 11:19
  And this is my last chance to keep riding motorcycles.
• 11:21
  So...
• 11:22
  Went and took the idea and said, yep, I just had that mindset of, yeah, like I say, young kid just going, I'm going to go in there and smash enduro and just, yeah, smoke everybody and then take their money and then I'll go back to motocross and pay my way again to try and make it in motocross.
• 11:36
  And funnily enough, yeah, I went into the 09 championship with the Kawasaki MSC off-road race team and won the championship my first year.
• 11:47
  Didn't make huge money, but it was enough to, I could have, like I said, set out my normal plan to go back to motocross, but I actually enjoyed it and had a lot of fun.
• 11:55
  So it was, we kind of then just stuck with it and it's been, yeah, it's been the best kind of choice I've done my whole life really.
• 12:03
  So it's worked out for the best.
• 12:05
  And you got to represent Australia that year too, didn't you?
• 12:07
  You went to Portugal in 09, finished 14th in the world, but you were the fastest under 23 rider that year.
• 12:13
  I mean, it was remarkable, mate, wasn't it?
• 12:15
  Yeah, that's it, exactly.
• 12:16
  It was my first chance to go and represent Australia and first offer on it.
• 12:23
  We got over there, I was actually selected to go into the junior team, which was the under-23 division in class.
• 12:31
  And right at the last minute, we had a rider injure himself on the senior team.
• 12:35
  And, yeah, they basically just said we have to bump someone up into the senior group.
• 12:41
  But I was still racing in the under-23s championship.
• 12:44
  So, yeah, I went in there.
• 12:47
  And, yeah, like the 14th outright result was...
• 12:49
  It doesn't sound too good, but that's the world's best riders all from every country in the world.
• 12:56
  So it was all there at that race.
• 12:58
  And yeah, to be competitive and be up near the front with them all the whole way, it was quite amazing.
• 13:05
  And then, like you say, yeah, to come away with an under-23 championship with it, it was basically the start of good things to come then.
• 13:13
  And that's how we went the orange way on KDM, jumped on board KDM.
• 13:18
  That was my next question because then the Austrian manufacturer, KTM, famous orange colours, as you rightly say.
• 13:24
  I mean, they have such a great record when it comes to dirt bike racing, but particularly off-road competition of which you're now synonymous with.
• 13:32
  How did that, was it that event in Portugal?
• 13:34
  How did the door open to ultimately begin working with them?
• 13:38
  Yeah, look, I think with the result from winning here in the first year in Australia, we had Stephen Merriman come back from the world stage doing all the World Enduro Championships.
• 13:49
  And he actually just finished the last round before he came back in 2009 and he won the last round of the World Championship.
• 13:58
  So everyone kind of thought, yeah, he was going to smoke us and everything.
• 14:01
  And still to this day he was fast and full gas and wide open and it was hard to beat him, that's for sure.
• 14:06
  But we were lucky enough to get the Australian Championship in 2009.
• 14:11
  And then I think the result at the end of the year of 2009 with the six-day Enduro Championship, I think just kind of opened the door a little bit more for us and...
• 14:22
  Then KTM Australia basically said they wanted to switch over to their brand.
• 14:27
  And Kowasaki wanted to keep me on board, but they said they don't have the budget, what I'm probably worth now.
• 14:35
  So, yeah, unfortunately I had a good streak with Cowie.
• 14:40
  I ran with them for 15, 16 years or something, I think.
• 14:44
  So pretty much from 60s all the way through to seniors and racing motorcycles into seniors.
• 14:50
  I was on a Cowie.
• 14:51
  But, yeah, it's been good.
• 14:53
  I made that switch to KDM.
• 14:55
  And, yeah, definitely, like you say, they're a driving force to the world now.
• 14:59
  So it was back in 2000, 2002, they were like, KDM is a good brand of motorcycle, but they'll never win a Supercross race.
• 15:07
  They'll never win a championship in Supercross, motocross.
• 15:10
  And they've been pretty strong in enduro and everything.
• 15:13
  But, yeah, nowadays it's, I think...
• 15:17
  I think their tally now is like 200-odd world championships, and they're definitely a huge, big driving force to the motorcycle racing.
• 15:26
  So it's cool to be a part of that brand.
• 15:28
  So very dominant at Dakar, which we'll get to.
• 15:33
  You win Fink at your first attempt.
• 15:36
  I mean, this is the Australian off-road equivalent of Bathurst, of Baja.
• 15:41
  It's a little place about just over 200km south of Alice Springs.
• 15:46
  And you, on the June holiday long weekend, you race down there one day, you race back the next.
• 15:52
  And it's developed this cult following globally, mate, hasn't it?
• 15:56
  Yeah, indeed.
• 15:57
  It's starting to get a good following from all around the world.
• 16:00
  So it's a race that not many people around the world would really sign up for and want to do.
• 16:08
  I show a lot of my footage and clips and everything, and some of the guys in Baja have come over and tried, haven't succeeded.
• 16:15
  And there's also people in Dakar and that that watch footage and just go, it's just one race that they would never come near with a high speed.
• 16:21
  So like I say, yeah, we travel in some of the...
• 16:25
  Yeah, biggest deep whoops was like about waist deep on a normal grown human.
• 16:30
  And then basically, yeah, we're travelling at speeds anywhere like 125 kilometres an hour average.
• 16:35
  Average.
• 16:36
  That's average, yeah.
• 16:37
  So that's with two fuel stops as well.
• 16:39
  So it's basically two fuel stops are about 15 seconds each, roughly.
• 16:43
  If you can get out under 15, you're doing a pretty – the team's doing a good job.
• 16:48
  So, yeah, it's quite remarkable how crazy this race is.
• 16:55
  uh off-road baja race of australia and basically our our bath is uh 1000 for off-road racing so it's definitely starting to get a lot of people following the event and um and traveling from all around australia like i say some people travel two three days to come and watch this race so it's uh really cool to see and um they have the support of everyone out there it's it's it's amazing
• 17:18
  uniquely Australian countryside, what do you need to succeed in that thing, rider-wise and bike-wise?
• 17:26
  Because you are pinned.
• 17:27
  When you're coming across some of those sections, it's like the bike dances across the top, the suspension travels, you're a part, you're at one with the machine, but it requires ultimate bravery, mate, doesn't it?
• 17:40
  Indeed, 100%.
• 17:41
  I have so many people ask that same question, how does it work?
• 17:46
  And I think most of the entry is something that's probably not too much between the ears.
• 17:52
  That's about the biggest thing.
• 17:54
  So I qualify really well for that.
• 18:00
  And then, yeah, they say you need to have a set on you the size of coconuts.
• 18:05
  That's, yeah, I don't know about that, but it's, yeah, it's quite crazy.
• 18:10
  Just the biggest thing is, yeah, a bike set-up, which I've been very lucky to have KTM in my corner from the very first trip out there in 2010, and every win that I've had with Fink, it's been on Orange Bike with KTM, so very lucky on that side of things.
• 18:28
  But, yeah, it's just time down that track, and like I say, you've...
• 18:32
  you've really basically kind of got to have really no respect for your life really because it's uh if something goes wrong out there at those speeds on a motorcycle it's um yeah you're going to be seriously hurt um if not more so it's uh it can be can be quite quite dangerous out there and that's what i mean you've got to have really nothing going on between the years to to uh basically just sit that everything aside and go as fast as you can down that track and
• 18:58
  Some people go out to see how to ride it, enjoy it, and be a part of the event and get their dog spiked, which is, it's unreal.
• 19:04
  I give credit to the guys that are at the back of the field because I know how hard it is to get there as quickly as possible in under two hours on top.
• 19:14
  When those guys hit basically every single warp that goes down that track, I've tried that.
• 19:20
  pace when you start to get a little bit tired out there practicing and to actually go through and hit every single warp and go at a fairly, just a decent nice half pace of what I normally do it's even more tiring at that so it's big, big credit to everyone that goes out and tries to tick that one off their bucket list.
• 19:38
  Your foundations were built around that event success in the Australian Off-Road Championship, obviously Hatter Desert Race as well.
• 19:48
  America might beckoned in
• 19:50
  You know, and in 2013, I guess it would be fair to say you had a big scare injury-wise.
• 19:54
  There have been plenty of injuries, but there was, you know, pretty decent break as far as the neck was concerned.
• 19:59
  Tell us about that.
• 20:00
  Yeah, that's it.
• 20:02
  Once, yeah, everything started going really well from 2009, 2010.
• 20:06
  We just started to gather some momentum and just starting to get our name, I guess, recognised more on the world stage from doing six-day enduro and everything.
• 20:16
  But so, yeah, from the Fink Desert Race, that recognition from that event, winning a couple of times there.
• 20:25
  I got an offer to go and race the Baja stuff with the factory KTM team in America.
• 20:32
  So I jumped at the chance because I was riding with the guys I'd looked up to in the off-road scene for numerous years and heard of and well-respected.
• 20:44
  Mike Brown at the time too was with the off-road side and he was a guy I'd watched since a young age doing motocross.
• 20:52
  Like I say, it comes back to that day.
• 20:54
  I wanted to make a motocross racer, but, yeah, he was a part of the team as well.
• 20:58
  And so, yeah, made the switch and went over there and started doing some races.
• 21:01
  I competed in the San Felipe A250 race, got a fourth place finish there, teaming up with Mike Brown.
• 21:09
  So that was, like, something pretty cool.
• 21:10
  I ticked off the bucket list, teaming up with him, and then, yeah,
• 21:13
  Yeah, we were just over there getting prepped and ready for the Baja 500 on the motorcycle class.
• 21:19
  And the weekend before, before we started to go down to the pre-run, there was a national hare and hound event on it at Palm Springs, California.
• 21:32
  And I went out there and, yeah, basically it almost flipped everything upside down for us
• 21:44
  yeah, on edge of being in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
• 21:47
  And yeah, that one definitely kicked in pretty hard.
• 21:50
  I ended up breaking C6, 7 and T1 in my neck.
• 21:53
  And yeah, I had insurance and everything because it was in place.
• 21:57
  And yeah, once they worked out whether
• 22:01
  the cost was going to go to and where it was heading.
• 22:05
  The insurance company I was with, yeah, somehow found a clause or something in their contract and got out of being a part of it and pretty much just wiped the hands of it.
• 22:14
  And yes.
• 22:15
  It would not be cheap in America, mate.
• 22:17
  No, no, I was starting to look at, yeah, figures around about half a million dollars to get a surgery.
• 22:24
  Like I say, you can't, you never put a price on your life, really.
• 22:28
  At the end of the day, you need to be fixed and sorted.
• 22:31
  But, yeah, at that time then, I was, I think I was 20, 24, so, yeah.
• 22:39
  Yeah, that there, like a 24-year-old, don't really have half a million dollars sitting around and getting sorted.
• 22:45
  So, yeah, we unfortunately had to make a bit of a bite the bullet, bit of a move.
• 22:52
  Yeah, I actually ended up getting shifted out of the hospital there in America.
• 22:57
  Once the insurance company pretty much wiped the hands of it, the hospital didn't really want to know me too much, didn't really want to help.
• 23:03
  So we were like, yeah, our next best option is to get out of there.
• 23:07
  Once we get back to Australia, my Medicare here will cover me.
• 23:13
  There was that little snag between being there in America and a 15-hour flight to get back here to Australia and basically just hang your life on a limb a little bit, really.
• 23:24
  So it was quite scary.
• 23:27
  Once the hospital got me out, I stayed two nights in a hotel laying flat on my back in a bed and in a halo system that basically installed straight on my head when I got into the hospital.
• 23:40
  And then, yeah, we had that 15 hour journey on the plane.
• 23:45
  All went fairly well.
• 23:46
  Wasn't too comfortable.
• 23:46
  Wasn't the greatest.
• 23:48
  Definitely had some weird looks coming my way with basically someone that looked like Frankenstein on this plane and everyone's just going, how the hell is he on this thing?
• 23:56
  And yeah, landed in Brisbane.
• 24:00
  Then caught a taxi, I guess, straight from the airport to the hospital, Brisbane Private Hospital, and saw Dr Paul Lucina.
• 24:09
  That was Anzac morning of 2013.
• 24:12
  And it was basically his day rostered off that he was going to spend time with family and kids.
• 24:20
  And then he got...
• 24:22
  all my scans and x-rays and got fresh ones.
• 24:25
  Basically come in in the morning and looked at everything and just went, nah, this is, you're too damn close to being on the edge.
• 24:34
  You've already gambled enough with your life.
• 24:37
  And so yeah, luckily enough, he canceled his plan for the day with family and friends and basically, yeah, and within six hours I was in on an operating table and getting fixed up.
• 24:48
  So he definitely, definitely saved
• 24:51
  my life pretty much.
• 24:52
  And yeah, the very next morning he came in to see me and said that yeah, basically everything went really well.
• 25:00
  And yeah, my next question was, can I ride a motorcycle again?
• 25:04
  And he said, I can't see why not.
• 25:06
  So it's,
• 25:07
  Yeah, from where it went from in America, where they were basically going to say, yeah, you're not going to have a very good life for the rest of your life.
• 25:13
  You're going to be in a lot of pain forever, and you'll never ride a motorcycle again.
• 25:17
  It got flipped up the right way, and having a great doctor.
• 25:22
  Yeah, so then it was just basically put the head down and try and work hard and get back on a motorcycle.
• 25:27
  So, yeah, I got very, very lucky.
• 25:29
  I got...
• 25:30
  Yeah, got looked after by an angel for sure above me and everything from there.
• 25:35
  It's been going fairly well since 2013.
• 25:38
  What did the fam say, mate, and did you contemplate giving it away?
• 25:41
  Did you feel like I got too close there or was there never a doubt that you'd get back on a bike?
• 25:46
  Look, yeah, for sure the first two days I was kind of at that point where I was like, yeah, that's probably enough for me.
• 25:52
  I've pretty much cheated life and death really.
• 25:56
  So I won't be able to really gamble too much more with stuff like that.
• 26:00
  And especially with what the doctors were telling me there in America.
• 26:04
  it looked like it was going to be the end.
• 26:06
  So you just had to start to try and bite the bullet and realise it.
• 26:09
  But, yeah, I don't know.
• 26:11
  Even though I was still sitting in America and three, four days later, I'd just gone, this just can't be the end of it.
• 26:16
  Like it's something I've known since a little kid and I don't want this to be the end of it.
• 26:21
  So it's, yeah, luckily enough, like I say, when I got the doctor here, Dr. Paul Lucena, and he fixed me up and pretty much said, yeah, he said, I can't see why you can't get back on a motorcycle.
• 26:33
  Yeah, don't worry.
• 26:35
  That was pretty much like I'd won lotto.
• 26:37
  I would have traded a lotto in for that any day of the week to say I could ride a motorcycle again.
• 26:42
  So it's, yeah, I just worked hard at it from there.
• 26:47
  And then just, yeah, I had the rest of the 2013 pretty much to get myself sorted to try and come back racing in 2014 again.
• 26:54
  So it's...
• 26:55
  That was definitely a big win for us, that's for sure.
• 26:57
  Am I right in saying that Day in the Dirt in California was kind of the real big comeback?
• 27:03
  Is that when it kind of really kicked in for you?
• 27:05
  Yeah, indeed.
• 27:06
  Like I say, we were over there at the end of 2013.
• 27:11
  We had a motorcycle and stuff that we could ride.
• 27:16
  Unfortunately, yeah, 2013, we had another bit of a kick in the face.
• 27:20
  It was when Kurt Caselli passed away, which was at the Baja 1000.
• 27:25
  So I was over there basically just hanging out with the guys in the group and being a part of the team.
• 27:31
  Yeah.
• 27:33
  He meant a lot to you, mate, didn't he?
• 27:34
  Yeah, indeed.
• 27:36
  Like, Kurt, we pretty much had the same personality.
• 27:40
  We got along really well straight from the start, and that pretty much kicked off from around 2009 when we were at the six-day Enduro Championship.
• 27:49
  So we, yeah, definitely hit it off well, and we were good mates when we could ever catch up at races and stuff.
• 27:56
  And then, like I say, yeah,
• 27:58
  for where I sit right now and the team I'm writing for now may not have happened unless, yeah, with the words that Kurt was putting in for me.
• 28:08
  So it's, yeah, kind of hard.
• 28:12
  I'm sure as anything, he's looking down on everything that we're doing and we're trying to definitely keep him proud for the words he's put in for me and everything.
• 28:19
  But, yeah, he definitely made some doors open for me, probably a little bit quicker than normal.
• 28:26
  So it was...
• 28:28
  Yeah, to lose him at that race was definitely, that was a hard one to take.
• 28:32
  And like I say, we'd been riding with him two days prior.
• 28:37
  And then basically, yeah, it all completely changed and go the other way.
• 28:42
  And then, yeah, you don't get to see him ever again.
• 28:44
  Yeah, it was definitely a hard one to take.
• 28:47
  So it was pretty crazy.
• 28:50
  But then, yeah, like you say, a bit of a turnaround point was when we got back on the motorcycle and raced day in the dirt.
• 28:55
  And we come away with a win there straight up.
• 28:59
  And that was pretty much, yeah, like, yeah, it's not over yet.
• 29:03
  So it's definitely something that helped get back on the track a little bit quicker, I think.
• 29:12
  A determination of yours is one of your incredible traits, mate.
• 29:15
  You just know fear and you're always big on getting back on the bike.
• 29:22
  2015, you make your Dakar debut.
• 29:25
  How did that come about and were you pushing to do it?
• 29:29
  Was KTM encouraging you?
• 29:31
  What was the process there?
• 29:33
  Yeah.
• 29:33
  Yeah, look, it was probably around 2013, 2014.
• 29:39
  I started to get a little bit of interest with Dakar because I'd started doing some desert racing and then I started to see a lot more of Dakar on TV.
• 29:47
  And I actually had, well, we had Kurt that was going over in 2012 and 13 that was going to compete in Dakar and be a part of the team.
• 30:00
  And yeah.
• 30:01
  yeah, from there on it was just basically just watching my teammate Ben grab them.
• 30:05
  And, um, yeah, I, I had a bit of an interest to spark up for it.
• 30:08
  So it was, you know, KDM weren't pushing for it.
• 30:11
  They weren't making me do anything.
• 30:13
  Um, it was definitely something that, yeah, I, I wanted to take on and have a crack at myself, but like just everything you need to, everything to line up properly and have a good support, um, crew and backing of a team.
• 30:24
  And, um, yeah, so luckily enough, uh, actually my, my boss, um,
• 30:31
  of the rally side of things out of Alex Doringa, basically funded it out of his own pocket.
• 30:38
  Yeah.
• 30:38
  From the words that Kurt gave him.
• 30:41
  And yeah, so I had basically backing from Kurt and also from, from Alex and yeah, needed just to make sure I got to the event and done well.
• 30:51
  Look, I definitely didn't expect a third place or a result on my very first trip, and nobody did, that's for sure.
• 30:57
  And to try and do something like that on your first trip, it's very, very, very rare.
• 31:03
  And, yeah, like I say, I definitely had some days go my way where it was a bit of luck, and then I also had some days that were not as kind to me.
• 31:12
  So it was, yeah, basically got the chance to go there as a water boy for the factory team, for the Red Bull KTM team.
• 31:22
  And as the event went on, the team guys, basically a couple of them dropped out and then there was only a couple left that were basically being Mark Comer and Jordie Villadolms that was on the team.
• 31:34
  And a couple of the other guys had some troubles and issues and didn't quite pull through.
• 31:39
  And, yeah, to come away by the end of the 14-day rally,
• 31:46
  Definitely, yeah, my wildest dream never would have thought it would have been a third place podium and yeah, that's pretty much where it...
• 31:55
  I guess, what did you say?
• 31:57
  It's where it's all just built and taken off from there now.
• 32:00
  So it's been crazy.
• 32:01
  It's remarkable, mate.
• 32:02
  I mean, you won stage 12.
• 32:05
  We're talking about a 9,000K, the most gruelling thing on the planet as far as motorsport competition is concerned, respected by...
• 32:15
  Weber, Ricciardo, all of those guys, they all look at what you do and go, that is just off the charts.
• 32:20
  You spend a fortnight going through Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, through incredible countryside, mate.
• 32:28
  You are a long way from home, Toto.
• 32:32
  yes i'm a long way from home i'm a long way from a nice decent coffee shop and uh yeah uh that's that's the thing it's it's i don't know it's really hard to explain to people in like a yeah five minute conversation what actually dakar's like it's just uh if you run into some trouble out there yeah you're gonna be you're gonna be stuck out there for hours um sometimes if not the night and camping out the middle of nowhere and um
• 32:58
  Yeah, you've got really no support through the whole day.
• 33:01
  You run, yeah, 9,500 kilometres over the 14-day period.
• 33:07
  Most of the time you're up at least 3 o'clock in the morning to be on the bike at 4, 4 o'clock.
• 33:12
  Sometimes, yeah, you're up even earlier than that to be on the bike.
• 33:15
  And our biggest day, yeah, we have is 1,100 kilometres in a day.
• 33:19
  So it's like that's riding a motorcycle from...
• 33:22
  Brisbane to Sydney.
• 33:23
  Yeah, okay, when you do that on a holiday and stuff like that, it's a holiday feeling and you can take your time and enjoy it, but there's no taking your time and enjoyment of a Dakar.
• 33:34
  So it's a job and it's...
• 33:39
  Damn, damn tough one, that's for sure.
• 33:40
  So it's just when you think you're getting on top of it, it tends to throw something at you and try and beat you down again.
• 33:47
  But that's, like you say, that determination that I have, I don't let too much try and affect us.
• 33:55
  You've got to overcome those things that get thrown up at you at the time and just try and make the best...
• 34:01
  change and best possibility that come out of that outcome so it's just uh yeah it's it's definitely um some of the most remote locations you could ever ride a motorcycle um and then like i say yeah if you if that bike breaks or you break yourself you're a long way from some help to get you some medical attention and uh unfortunately i've had to experience that once now and um
• 34:25
  Yeah, and motorcycle repairs, it's, yeah, you're not just a motorcycle rider, you're a mechanic, so you've got to know how to work on the motorcycle, which whereas from that young age, my dad teaching me everything, it comes in handy, and then basically you've got to be an electrician, you've got to be basically a bit of a genius to...
• 34:43
  to uh improvise on something to make you get through the rest of the day if something breaks and um yeah you've just got to be uh on on the ball the whole time and it's uh it just fries your brain like every day and to top it all off you've got to be a good navigator
• 34:58
  So just explain, if you can, to our listeners what happens as far as, you know, the next day's competition is concerned, where you've got to go.
• 35:07
  And you have on the bike a rolling map system.
• 35:11
  Is that right?
• 35:12
  And just tell us how you use that.
• 35:13
  I mean, you're doing big speeds.
• 35:15
  Are you subliminally just keeping an eye on it?
• 35:16
  What are you doing?
• 35:17
  Yeah.
• 35:17
  Yeah, pretty much.
• 35:18
  That's it.
• 35:19
  We have basically a bike that we have a, they call it, it's a navigation tower out in front of us.
• 35:26
  So there's basically this square aluminium, now carbon fibre little box that has a big paper roll of all your navigation calls in it for the day.
• 35:35
  So it's automatic, but it's a manual shift to roll it.
• 35:41
  So you scroll it and it's always in your periphery, is it, or where do you?
• 35:44
  Yeah, so it's almost in your peripheral vision.
• 35:47
  So you're always looking out on the track to see what's coming up to you, but then you're always just having those little glances down just to keep an eye on the road book, on the map, just to make sure that, yeah, you are going the right way.
• 36:00
  So we do have a GPS on the motorcycle, but it's not telling us to make a turn, to where we're going the right way.
• 36:08
  It's not like ticking boxes and stuff for us.
• 36:10
  This is not sat-nav.
• 36:12
  It ain't no sat nav, this ain't no TomTom, it ain't no Siri, it's nothing like this at all.
• 36:17
  So it's quite crazy to have this thing on the motorcycle.
• 36:22
  It's pretty much useless to you to then, other than that, basically just track where you are, just to basically log off waypoints that are hidden so they're not like...
• 36:32
  There's not no massive big pole flag flying in the air.
• 36:35
  There's no car sitting there.
• 36:37
  There's no obvious point of a burning bucket or something on fire.
• 36:42
  And it's this invisible waypoint that, yeah, you basically have to look at this GPS tracker to see if it's actually...
• 36:49
  tick that waypoint off at kilometre 35 or whatever it is.
• 36:53
  And then, yeah, you might have about 250 waypoints for the day that you have to clock off that are just not visible to you at all.
• 37:01
  So then that's it.
• 37:02
  Like I say, you're glancing at a paper roll of notes and depending on how big the day is and how spread out the notes are,
• 37:14
  depends on yeah that's how how big your day is going to be so if the notes are very very close very tight um you're in for a really long day but if you've got some notes that are spread out over five to six seven eight kilometers between each note then you've pretty much got a a day that's going to be pretty fast pretty wide open full gas so it's uh
• 37:34
  Yeah, that night we spend anywhere from two to four hours marking this road book, this roll of paper.
• 37:41
  Like I say, with all these highlighters and colours and textas and markers and stuff.
• 37:47
  So like all for me, if the note looks like it's a...
• 37:51
  a straight line that you've got to go through a t-junction full gas wide open whatever i mark them all green anything that i need to make a navigation change like a right hand turn or follow a cap or anything i make a blue um dangers so you've got single caution double caution triple caution um that you mark them red so if it's only if it's single caution you can pretty much be still wide open full gas uh double caution slow down you've got a like a obey something there's
• 38:21
  And triple caution, if you hit that thing probably any quicker than second gear wide open, you're going to be probably in the back of a meat wagon.
• 38:27
  So if you don't stay on top of your road book and you don't follow those things to a T, you can get hurt very, very quickly.
• 38:36
  So it's not only on top of that, there's so many things I can explain to the road book.
• 38:42
  The road book's in French, so it's all everything to just explain in all these... French too.
• 38:47
  Yeah, French terms.
• 38:48
  So, like, TDRSP is basically, in English, is keep straight on main road.
• 38:53
  So there's no, yeah, not even one initial to that that matches keep straight on main track or main road or anything.
• 39:00
  Like, it's all these little terms that are just completely different to how you would run.
• 39:08
  So it's basically...
• 39:09
  just learning that system of i can't speak a word of french at all whatever anything um i can't order food drink whatever well agra i can order it's no problem but on top of that like yeah i can't have a general conversation in french but just the road book like i say my determination to to everything if if i'm going to attack something i put 100 into it and and i i learn those terms but then in a general normal life i've got no idea on french so it's uh
• 39:35
  Full gas from there, but then, yeah, like I say, you just gotta keep on top of that road book, and yeah, if you make a navigation error, like I say, it's not like if you miss a T junction, and you go straight through, and you're meant to turn right, but you go 150 meters past the turn, and turn around and come back, then take the turn, so you're meant to go to the right, so then you turn left to go down the right track where you're meant to go,
• 40:05
  If you don't recalibrate your distance and your kilometres, that's how you end up getting hurt as well.
• 40:11
  Because, yeah, basically there's three buttons on the left-hand side of the handlebars, two buttons that are right near your grip, one up at the top, one at the bottom.
• 40:22
  And then you basically, to recalibrate, you'd take, see if you need to take 300 metres off, you press the bottom button three times.
• 40:29
  So each time you press it, it's 100 metres that will come off your trip metre.
• 40:35
  And then if, like I say, if you don't recalibrate at that, you just have a mind-brain fade, and then the next note from there after that T-junction was a triple caution, you will then hit the note where it says triple caution at T-junction.
• 40:51
  Yeah, 17.5 kilometres.
• 40:52
  And you go, oh.
• 40:53
  And then you look up and there's nothing there.
• 40:56
  And you go, okay, well, jeez, there's something wrong.
• 40:58
  And then just have that mind blank, like I say.
• 41:01
  You're 300 metres more.
• 41:02
  So it's three football fields down.
• 41:03
  You can't see that triple caution down there.
• 41:06
  If it's over a blind bit of a crest...
• 41:08
  and then you just start clicking gears wide open, because you haven't, back at that T-junction, recalibrated here, that's, yeah, you end up going into a triple caution wide open, and then that's game over.
• 41:21
  So it's, yeah, it's crazy.
• 41:23
  Little things like that that just people don't quite see and don't hear of the Dakar.
• 41:28
  It's a pretty amazing event, that's for sure.
• 41:34
  You're listening to Rusty's Garage.
• 41:36
  More with Toby Price in a moment.
• 41:39
  In this series, I speak to some of the most passionate riders, drivers, designers and collectors I know.
• 41:46
  Like Grant Denyer, the energetic TV frontman and game show host, who's also a very handy racer with a proper love of just about anything with wheels.
• 41:57
  He's not afraid of stunts and has had some very close calls.
• 42:01
  And it goes off so fast you can't tell.
• 42:03
  But the airbag stuck to my helmet and my visor.
• 42:05
  Oh, no.
• 42:06
  So all I could see is this white glow.
• 42:09
  So I've gone, all I'm seeing is white and I know I've had an accident.
• 42:14
  I'm dead.
• 42:15
  I thought, I'm dead.
• 42:17
  So I thought, oh, well, at least it didn't hurt.
• 42:19
  I'd seriously thought I'd crossed over.
• 42:21
  Grant Denya, welcome.
• 42:24
  It's your turn.
• 42:25
  I've been waiting for you.
• 42:27
  Listen to the full episode with Grant Denya here on Rusty's Garage.
• 42:37
  Heel and toe.
• 42:38
  Fluid performance driving dance on the pedals.
• 42:41
  Breaking with your toes while bleeping the throttle with your heel to match the revs as you clutch and downshift gears.
• 42:47
  Yeah, it's pretty impossible.
• 42:50
  I do not know how you do it physically, mentally exhausting, mate.
• 42:54
  You kept that bike too, which is really cool, the first podium bike that you had, KTM 450 Rally.
• 43:00
  I mean, over the past, call it 20 years, I mean, they've been so dominant at Dakar, and they're built for this event.
• 43:09
  The history of the bike, they've had various different capacities, over 600 up to 900 now, 450, and it's a weapon, mate.
• 43:17
  It is, that's it.
• 43:19
  Like, at the end of the day, yeah, they used to have 990s and 660s and everything, but the way the direction the rally's going, the speed is definitely picking up.
• 43:29
  So the 990, I think, had about a 200...
• 43:33
  I think it was a 211 kilometre top speed.
• 43:36
  So once you start trying to throw that speed out of Dakar and trying to read and navigate the way and whatnot, there seemed to be a lot of people getting hurt and getting in the way, so it was quite crazy.
• 43:49
  But then, yeah, they basically then from there just went to 660s and then now they're at the 450s.
• 43:56
  So still at the end of the day, like it's...
• 43:59
  The motorcycle's gone from about probably 210 kilos down to now about 180 kilos.
• 44:04
  So they've dropped so much weight off them.
• 44:06
  So power to weight ratio, I think we're still at the same kind of power, even though we're not getting the top speeds that they were out of the 990s.
• 44:15
  But we're able to ride these bikes now because they're lighter for more weight.
• 44:19
  the same distance as they were doing on the 990s, but we're probably doing it a little bit quicker because they're a little bit more light, agile, more nimble, but we're, we're still getting around 65, 66 horsepower out of one of these, um, 450s and still being reliable.
• 44:34
  Like I say, it's, uh, we can't do, once the, the, the bike goes in through tech and inspection, um, they put clamps and tags and everything on the bottom end of the motor and,
• 44:45
  So you've got to run that same bottom end on the motor for the whole 9,500 kilometres.
• 44:50
  So it's not like you can go and bomb out a motor that's 70-odd horsepower and a top speed of 200 k's and you just keep changing motors every night.
• 44:59
  So once that motor's in, that's the one that stays in for the race.
• 45:02
  So we can do a top-end rebuild, but you can't touch anything with the bottom end to the thing.
• 45:09
  Yeah, with KDM, we've got a very strong, very reliable motorcycle that, yeah, we're able to do the whole 9,500 kilometres on one whole motor.
• 45:18
  So it's, yeah, my Dakar winning bike, they actually pulled that out off the bike.
• 45:26
  off the wind and I think they went and put it onto a dyno for another 40 hours and yeah and it's still it still kept going so it's amazing amazing how they can get these things to last so much so it's yeah big credit to those guys and that's yeah we're definitely getting some pressure from Honda and Yamaha but yeah KTM's been very dominant for like you said the last 20 years they've won 17 straight now and yeah we're definitely we've got the right people in our in our corner to make it
• 45:55
  as easy as possible for us for the being the riders so it's uh it's not only the riders doing the job um like i say it's a it's a big team effort and uh without them it definitely uh definitely is not not possible a couple quick other stats when we're talking 450 cc four stroke six-speed gearbox what what is it weight wise and is it a 31 liter fuel tank have i got that right
• 46:17
  Yeah, so it's two 8-litre fuel tanks to the front and then basically about a 17-litre tank in the rear.
• 46:22
  So there's three tanks all up, two fuel pumps.
• 46:26
  Basically, you're a bit over the 30-litre mark on fuel.
• 46:31
  So not like...
• 46:32
  It's not like every time you pull up for fuel, you're not filling the thing completely to the rim every time.
• 46:37
  So you basically just work out roughly, the team works out where the fuel spots are, where we refuel, and they say that you've got 150 kilometres till the end of the day from that fuel stop, so you only need...
• 46:50
  yeah, I think it would be around probably 12 litres or something.
• 46:54
  So you'd put 12 litres into the bike, so just balance it all out, and then off you go, keep going again.
• 47:00
  So it's, yeah, we carry a lot of stuff.
• 47:03
  There's a 3-litre bike.
• 47:05
  I guess a clear bladder, hard plastic bladder tank for water.
• 47:10
  So it's a compulsory thing you have to have on the motorcycle is three litres of water.
• 47:15
  Then, yeah, you've got all the bits and pieces of spare parts you can possibly take on the motorcycle, um...
• 47:21
  to, if you're like front brake lever, clutch lever, rear brake pedal, gear lever, brake pads, a clutch plate.
• 47:30
  So if you do burn a clutch out, you can actually just pull the cover off, throw another plate in on top of it, clamp the plate back down.
• 47:38
  So basically just makes it a direct drive.
• 47:40
  So you'll have no clutch for the rest of the day, but you will be able to basically bump, start the thing, get it going.
• 47:46
  And then, yeah, it will just, it won't stop with a clutch.
• 47:49
  That's just a bad, bad.
• 47:51
  Backyard mechanics, that's it.
• 47:52
  Like I say, you've got to be a bit of a genius, a bit of a person that will come up with some crazy ideas to just basically make it to the end of the day of the finish line.
• 48:01
  So, yeah, like I say, there's heaps of tools, like all the little toolkits and stuff on the bike.
• 48:07
  And, yeah, once it's fully loaded, all the GPS systems and everything, like I say, it's probably about 185 kilos fully loaded, fuel, water.
• 48:16
  Then you basically got myself, all the riding gear I take.
• 48:19
  So...
• 48:20
  I'm 95 kilos myself, then plus the riding gear.
• 48:24
  It's a bit over 300 odd kilos that it's running through the desert at about 175 kilometres an hour.
• 48:31
  You clip some stone or some rock or some G out in that, 300 kilos is pretty damn heavy.
• 48:36
  And ass over it and you go.
• 48:38
  So it's pretty crazy.
• 48:40
  In 2016, you win it.
• 48:44
  Five stages, victory by 40 minutes.
• 48:47
  I mean, the only person ever to win at their second attempt.
• 48:50
  And Australia's going crazy because they've got an Aussie who's won Dakar.
• 48:54
  It was wild, mate, wasn't it?
• 48:55
  Indeed.
• 48:57
  Saying that there, it still gives me chills to this day.
• 49:00
  Yeah, it just gave me good old chills then.
• 49:03
  So it's... Yeah, winning on my second attempt was pretty much...
• 49:08
  Another unheard of thing, really.
• 49:10
  So it's out of the guys that have been racing it the last...
• 49:15
  yeah, 10, 15, 20 years, hadn't been able to do that.
• 49:19
  So it's, yeah, to have that bit of a stat and record to the name is quite crazy.
• 49:26
  So, yeah, that year was everything just, yeah, like I say, you've got to have a lot of luck go your way with Dakar.
• 49:34
  It's definitely never an easy run for you there for sure.
• 49:37
  But I just had all my stars aligned and, yeah,
• 49:40
  yeah, won five stages to that rally and, yeah, come away with a Dakar trophy in my hand and being the first Aussie to do that in any category and first non-European speaking person.
• 49:54
  So I don't know if they enjoyed that side of the stuff too much because, yeah, the old Aussie way, you get over there in Europe and you try and talk to somebody there and nobody can understand you because we just talk way too fast and, but it's just, it's just the Aussie way and, yeah,
• 50:09
  Yeah, we had a great run.
• 50:12
  So it was, yeah, the bike was spot on.
• 50:16
  It was perfect.
• 50:16
  And yeah, got a result that now I'll be able to take away with me for the rest of my life.
• 50:25
  But yeah, there's still a lot of unfinished business there, that's for sure.
• 50:28
  So yeah, you can't have one.
• 50:30
  You've got to have two.
• 50:31
  And then two then becomes four.
• 50:33
  I guess you just always want more.
• 50:34
  So it never ends.
• 50:36
  This style of competition is brutal on the body, mate.
• 50:38
  I mean, the list of injuries, you know, we know that you've had a broken leg there in a recent one.
• 50:44
  You've come back to finish on the podium again in 2018, which is remarkable.
• 50:48
  But it's a tough game, mate.
• 50:50
  Isn't it?
• 50:51
  It is.
• 50:51
  Yeah, you're not going to be in this sport forever.
• 50:55
  Motorcycle racing, it beats you up.
• 50:57
  It does definitely destroy your body.
• 50:59
  And like I say, at the moment, everything is still good.
• 51:03
  I'm definitely, I feel as good as I can be and everything's fit and healthy.
• 51:09
  feeling good so it's yeah definitely still got to work on the fitness tool by January for next year's Dakar and but yeah we just got to stay fit and healthy for the rest of the year and we'll definitely be on a charge in January so I think we're going to be like I say we come back this year yeah unfortunately 2017 to back up that title coming in as the reigning champ yeah it didn't quite work out we ended up breaking the femur there and how bad was that break?
• 51:37
  Yeah, it was pretty decent.
• 51:38
  It was a good clean break.
• 51:41
  But like I say, I don't remember hitting the ground.
• 51:43
  I don't remember being in a helicopter and a plane and waking up in an oblivion hospital in a third world country.
• 51:52
  The surgery had already been done.
• 51:53
  So basically, I didn't know what had happened to me and what they'd done.
• 51:57
  And like I say, yeah, I was checking all my stomach and everything.
• 52:01
  they didn't take any kidneys and whatever and whatever else they needed.
• 52:04
  So, uh, I thought I was going to wake up in a big bucket of ice really, but, um, yeah, got away with, got away with that one.
• 52:11
  Not too bad.
• 52:11
  It wasn't, it wasn't very comfortable.
• 52:13
  Um, and like I say, to wake up in a hospital that you can't speak to anybody there, they don't speak a pretty much a lick of English.
• 52:20
  And, um, yeah, it's, uh, that's the thing.
• 52:23
  Yeah.
• 52:23
  You, you're not in those comforts of your own, your own country.
• 52:27
  And, uh,
• 52:28
  uh people around you because i gotta say that while you're there the race is still going on so there's still three other teammates that are in the race um so that the team can't just stop because of myself being in in a hospital so it's uh hey pretty much they keep moving on with the at you because it's it's just a big moving roadshow really so it's uh a race that just covers a lot of ground and doesn't stay in the one place at all so it's uh you you set up tent and then yeah next next
• 52:54
  next night's another 900 kilometers away so you set up there and after that's another 700 kilometers away so it's um quite crazy but uh yeah the injury side of things just um yeah you just you got to put them behind you motorcycle racing you're gonna get it so it's uh we know what we're in for we we built the body up but um i'm sure when i'm pretty 70 or 80 years old i will look back and go god i had a great time but
• 53:18
  I won't be able to get out of bed, but don't worry.
• 53:22
  I'll have my motorised scooter with a Priya KTM 125 motor in it, and we're trying to race my wheelchair around.
• 53:28
  So racing is never going to stop for me.
• 53:30
  I don't know.
• 53:31
  It's very addictive, and it's something that's really bit me hard, and I just love racing and love being competitive in anything, really.
• 53:40
  So, yeah, it's good.
• 53:42
  Focus is still very much on two wheels, but there is an eye on kind of four-wheel fun, I guess.
• 53:47
  Or even it's more than fun, really, let's be honest.
• 53:50
  And it goes back to about 2015 and Adelaide 500 and having a crack at the stadium trucks there.
• 53:56
  And it's become more than that now.
• 53:58
  You enjoy the truck side of this?
• 54:00
  Yeah, indeed, that's it.
• 54:01
  Like I say, we had that result 2015 in Dakar, finishing third.
• 54:07
  So Robbie Gordon was actually at that event that year and he was competing in the car category.
• 54:12
  And yeah, after my third place result...
• 54:16
  Robbie was like, you're going to be a guy that's going to be kind of sought after a fair bit.
• 54:20
  That third place at Dakar is something pretty damn special.
• 54:23
  And so they worked out a deal here to get me into a stadium super truck.
• 54:27
  So I've always had an interest for cars.
• 54:29
  I love cars, motors, working on all those types of things, but never really had the opportunity and the chance to try and jump into one.
• 54:38
  What were the first impressions?
• 54:41
  Yeah, I had a smile for me to be.
• 54:43
  The first impressions were, yeah, it was amazing.
• 54:45
  But, yeah, it was quite difficult too, actually, with stadium super trucks.
• 54:50
  I was in Adelaide, went out to practice, and here's Robbie Gordon, basically the most bad off-road, most badass off-road racer ever.
• 54:58
  NASCAR.
• 54:59
  He's done everything.
• 55:01
  I don't even know that guy's record, but he's been in a lot of different vehicles and cars and won a lot of championships and races.
• 55:07
  And then he goes, here's a stadium truck.
• 55:10
  And yeah, I'll watch you drive around.
• 55:12
  I'm like, God, this is not going to be too good.
• 55:14
  I said, mate, I've never driven anything like this.
• 55:17
  I'm used to the old high ace vans and Mitsubishi Tritons.
• 55:21
  And that's what's got me to races.
• 55:22
  And now I'm just jumped in something that's about...
• 55:25
  550, 600 horsepower, and basically a go-kart size thing was big suspension, and he said, yeah, go for gold.
• 55:31
  So it's like, yeah, it definitely set in pretty quick, but then, like, yeah, as I say, once I climbed out of that thing, yeah, a very damn expensive sport just bit me a lot harder, and yeah, it's been fun.
• 55:44
  Like I say,
• 55:45
  motorcycles is still my main priority, main goal, main vision.
• 55:49
  Um, but, uh, yeah, cars and trucks and stuff.
• 55:52
  It's, uh, it's a very fun hobby for me at the moment, but, um, I'm not getting any younger.
• 55:58
  Um, motorcycles aren't going to be around forever.
• 56:00
  And, um, yeah, so I'm just trying to, um, build some skills and some basis on, on some things while things are good for me at the moment.
• 56:09
  Um, and those chances are coming.
• 56:11
  Um,
• 56:12
  yeah, I've kind of got to take them and have a crack at it.
• 56:14
  So it's, uh, it's built from there.
• 56:16
  Like I say, stadium super trucks to then, uh, racing the Fink Desert race in a trophy truck, um, racing in Baja in a trophy truck with a good friend, Jesse Jones, um, which those guys, it's like the elite of off-road motors, motocross racing.
• 56:31
  I guess it's, uh, it's pretty much the same what they go through those trucks.
• 56:35
  It's, uh, it's a big, basically a motocross race and, and, and something that's so damn enjoyable and fun.
• 56:40
  It's, uh, yeah.
• 56:41
  It's crazy.
• 56:42
  So to get that chance with Jesse to race there has been amazing.
• 56:45
  And then, yeah, just recently with the V8 Supercar Championships, they've brought in the actual Super Utes, and I've been able to snag a ride with the Mitsubishi team and do some driving there.
• 57:00
  So it's cool.
• 57:01
  It's great to learn all these different things.
• 57:05
  uh racing skills i guess and uh it's uh at the end of the day it's people look at it go ah it looks like retirement's coming soon on the motorcycle but i want another five to eight years at least on a motorcycle before that that all um comes to a stop but uh while if there's a weekend free that i can fill it with racing a car um i'm the first one to put my hand up and have a go of it so it's uh
• 57:27
  It still transfers over onto the motorcycle.
• 57:29
  It still keeps your race craft sharp, and you've got to keep yourself mentally focused.
• 57:38
  So it does definitely, even though it's two extra wheels and a roll cage around you, it still keeps you fresh and keeps you sharp for racing a motorcycle.
• 57:47
  So any type of racing is good for us.
• 57:51
  Seeing you circuit racing is a cool thing, but it does, you know, if I was to be some, you know, animal expert, it would be like the price out of its natural habitat, you know, doing something different.
• 58:01
  As you and I talk here today, we're at the Techno Supercar, Techno Performance Workshop on the Gold Coast.
• 58:07
  You've got a little bit of grease on your hands.
• 58:09
  You're taking the engine out of your truck.
• 58:11
  Tell us about this awesome thing that you took to Fink.
• 58:14
  It's a guiser truck, and these guys are legendary when it comes to building trucks for off-road racing, aren't they?
• 58:20
  Yeah.
• 58:20
  Yeah, indeed, that's it.
• 58:21
  So luckily enough, yeah, the guys here at Techno Performance have let us get a small bay out of their new facility and their new workshop here.
• 58:31
  And we house everything here for basically Toby Price Motorsports for trophy truck racing and a bit of the bike stuff as well.
• 58:40
  So we...
• 58:43
  We bit the bullet pretty hard in 2017.
• 58:47
  Once we were going out for Fink to race a motorcycle out there, went out to try and test and ride.
• 58:53
  That was after the year I broke my leg at Dakar.
• 58:58
  Got out there and realised in about a day, two days, that my leg definitely wasn't quite cut out and ready for that situation just yet.
• 59:07
  And like I say, the motorcycle...
• 59:10
  Motorsport racing has bit me very, very, very damn hard.
• 59:13
  And I don't know, I just had that split decision that I couldn't miss Fink that year and I needed to race Fink and I didn't care if it was going to be in a Can-Am or what they call a golf buggy or a...
• 59:28
  a trophy truck.
• 59:28
  So I bit the bullet.
• 59:30
  I bought a Geyser Brothers trophy truck from the States.
• 59:34
  And yeah, it's like I say, I'm trying to invest into something that will hopefully take off in the future.
• 59:40
  And then something that I'll have for a very long time.
• 59:44
  It's a work of art.
• 59:45
  So what those guys have built, yeah, they've won championships in America, in the Baja 1000, all through the States of Australia.
• 59:55
  all the races they do there and um yeah they definitely know what they're doing building that equipment and um yeah ended up buying this thing um so yeah i'm here at techno today actually uh after the uh think chaos maniac uh iron man the tent double and uh yeah i i see they come back to the same thing i don't mind getting my hands dirty i like uh to work on things and i got my training done this morning and um come into the workshop for the day and um yeah well
• 1:00:21
  I want my career and everything to keep moving forward.
• 1:00:24
  So sometimes you can't sit back and rely on everyone else.
• 1:00:29
  You've got to get in there and do it yourself as well.
• 1:00:31
  So it's been good.
• 1:00:33
  So, yeah, it's a six-litre built V8 Chev.
• 1:00:37
  The Geyser Brothers Trophy Truck runs King Shocks all through.
• 1:00:41
  They look like King Kong's arms, mate.
• 1:00:43
  They're unbelievable arms.
• 1:00:44
  They are.
• 1:00:45
  They're basically the size of King Kong's arms and things.
• 1:00:47
  So for the abuse and everything, they cop through down through the fink track.
• 1:00:52
  They need to be around that size.
• 1:00:53
  So we have about probably a bit over a metre's worth of suspension.
• 1:00:59
  Travel.
• 1:01:00
  Travel.
• 1:01:01
  So, yeah, once that thing's fully, I guess, like, yeah, gassed and stretched out, there's a lot of ground clearance.
• 1:01:09
  And then, yeah, it's what they call tucked in Tuesdays.
• 1:01:13
  It can squat down over a lot of things and get across stuff.
• 1:01:17
  So it's, yeah, they're King Shocks by 4.0s.
• 1:01:22
  So they're, yeah, they're probably around about, nearly about $8,000 a corner in suspension and that thing.
• 1:01:29
  So it's, the price tag on them is not very cheap.
• 1:01:34
  Yeah, they definitely, but they make a very rough, beat up track.
• 1:01:39
  Feel like you're driving down the M1 motorway and like you can pretty much only drink from a bottle of water in there by hand and by steering by one hand.
• 1:01:48
  So it's a very amazing bit of equipment.
• 1:01:51
  And then it runs BF Goodridge 40 inch tires on KMC wheels.
• 1:01:58
  So I've got some great support and great help from everybody on there.
• 1:02:01
  And Red Bull's jumped on board a little bit with it this year.
• 1:02:04
  And, yeah, just they're noticing that, yeah, I've got a little bit of driving skill and a bit of talent to wheel one of these things.
• 1:02:13
  Yeah, so we're fully branded with a Red Bull suit and helmet and some signage up the side of the truck.
• 1:02:20
  But then, yeah, we've got the KRE boys in today helping me as well.
• 1:02:25
  They build engines in supercars, for those of us that don't know.
• 1:02:27
  I mean, some of the top performing supercars teams use KRE engines.
• 1:02:32
  And the spec of this thing is almost kind of sprint car horsepower numbers, isn't it?
• 1:02:37
  I mean, it's...
• 1:02:38
  Yeah, it is.
• 1:02:40
  People don't know, KRE build motors for basically all the top teams of V8 supercars.
• 1:02:45
  So we have Triple Eight, Red Bull team there, Shell Performance Ford team and also Techno here.
• 1:02:53
  So they know what they're doing.
• 1:02:55
  They're winning races already.
• 1:02:57
  And to have their support and everything to build these motors in my truck, it's...
• 1:03:02
  Quite amazing.
• 1:03:03
  So they're here at the moment helping just run over everything, check everything.
• 1:03:07
  We're going to pull the motor out, just get it back on the dyno and run over everything and make sure it's all good.
• 1:03:12
  But yeah, like you say, it is, even though they do do sprint car and V8 supercar motors, it's more...
• 1:03:20
  Push towards the sprint car way.
• 1:03:22
  We're punching pretty decent numbers with this thing.
• 1:03:25
  I think a V8 supercar is about 630 horsepower, maybe, around there.
• 1:03:32
  This thing on dyno is about 710 horsepower.
• 1:03:35
  What's the gearbox in it?
• 1:03:37
  So it's a turbo 400 gearbox and so it's a three-speed auto but manual shift so it's a gate shift on it so you basically take off in the line in first, tromp your foot to the floor and yeah and then just start plucking in the second and third gear and that's it so it's…
• 1:03:56
  Only three gears, and with Fink, you only need second and third.
• 1:03:59
  And if you're in second, you're probably going a little bit slow through some turns somewhere, and you need to pick it back up.
• 1:04:04
  So it's mostly in Fink, it's all third gear.
• 1:04:08
  Kind of top speeds.
• 1:04:09
  So we can get about probably 210, 215 k's an hour in that thing with the metres worth of suspension.
• 1:04:18
  It's about two tonne, so it's not light.
• 1:04:21
  It's definitely no sprint car for weight.
• 1:04:25
  But, yeah, it runs a...
• 1:04:27
  Runs an eight stack Kinsler intake so it's yeah it's definitely very throaty very responsive and yeah basically the motor was built by Dugans over in the states it's been now sent over here and running here and KRE basically keeps in touch with Dugans just yeah on development and things that are going forwards and where they're going what direction and yeah it's
• 1:04:52
  If KRE can find something that helps, they report back to them a bit.
• 1:04:57
  Just try things as well for them over there for their racing.
• 1:05:00
  And so, yeah, to have two – and like I say, Dugans is a very strong motor builder in the States.
• 1:05:07
  So to have those two guys working on things together, then plus the support from guys running that thing here, it's –
• 1:05:15
  Yeah, it's an amazing bit of equipment, that's for sure.
• 1:05:18
  People come here to Techno and come and deck out their normal everyday road car with the air suspension and wheels, tyres and little performance mods and everything to the motors and stuff.
• 1:05:30
  And they see this trophy truck sitting up in the back corner and...
• 1:05:33
  They're drawn to it.
• 1:05:34
  Yeah, they're drawn to it.
• 1:05:35
  Yeah, 100%.
• 1:05:36
  So it's...
• 1:05:37
  Yeah, I think at the end of the day too, so it's, Tecno have their V8 supercar sitting pretty much right next to it as well and so they've got two very unique, different disciplined racing vehicles that are inside this shop and you can look at one thing that,
• 1:05:58
  They both cop a lot of a beating in a different way.
• 1:06:00
  So to have both of them sitting side by side and just looking at how everything's built and put together, it's quite crazy to see.
• 1:06:07
  And like I say, people are drawn to the trophy truck and how big the thing is.
• 1:06:10
  It is a piece of art well worth a look.
• 1:06:13
  Okay, a couple of quick final questions to...
• 1:06:16
  To wrap this up, you had a crack at the Ironman double in 2018, which is basically an insane program.
• 1:06:25
  You tackle the Fink Desert race on a bike and in the truck, and you either need a plane or a helicopter or both to ferry backwards and forwards in order to do that.
• 1:06:35
  What is the body like on Tuesday morning after that pounding?
• 1:06:38
  It's pretty beat, that's for sure.
• 1:06:40
  I'm definitely very tired from that weekend.
• 1:06:43
  Yeah, we've had a tackle at this twice now.
• 1:06:47
  My very first attempt was in 2016.
• 1:06:51
  We ran the bike and the trophy truck.
• 1:06:52
  We had a very good result my first time.
• 1:06:55
  I ended up winning the motorcycle category, finishing second outright in the truck and first in class in the truck.
• 1:07:02
  And I
• 1:07:04
  Yeah, we just, I don't know, it's a crazy idea to come up with and try and make work and have everything planned and go the right way.
• 1:07:13
  And, yeah, like you say, it's a logistic nightmare for myself and my crew and my team that we, yeah, this crazy idea I've cooked up that I know at the end of the day, 100%, I know I can win both categories, but it's just, it comes back to that 2016 result of Dakar.
• 1:07:29
  Things have just got to line up perfectly and go the right way.
• 1:07:34
  Yeah, we generally rolled around this year and I said, yeah, I'm going for the double again.
• 1:07:39
  We're going to have a crack at it.
• 1:07:41
  We missed the previous year with the leg injury, so 16 was the first time.
• 1:07:46
  So I kind of forgot how much the body goes through and the pain it goes through.
• 1:07:49
  And by the time about two weeks had rolled out around to Fink and then I'd been out there pre-running on the bike, I was like, I think I might have just bit a little bit too much off that cookie.
• 1:08:01
  It's going to be a tough old weekend because the track was changing a lot and getting beat up a lot more than what it had in previous years.
• 1:08:09
  But, yeah, look, the car side of things, I had a great crew, great people behind it.
• 1:08:13
  And the motorcycle side of things, I know I'm in 100% the best hands I can get with KTM.
• 1:08:18
  So there was no stress, no...
• 1:08:21
  backlash on that side of things there.
• 1:08:23
  So it was just trying to make sure we were prepped as best we can with the trophy truck.
• 1:08:26
  And, yeah, we had a crack at it again.
• 1:08:28
  And, look, day one went pretty damn solid, pretty spot on.
• 1:08:34
  We got down to Fink first.
• 1:08:37
  We take off first with the trophy truck.
• 1:08:39
  Around, I think we left at 7.00, no, sorry, 8.04 in the morning, I think it was.
• 1:08:47
  And it was something that time like that, wasn't it?
• 1:08:50
  That sounds a bit right.
• 1:08:51
  Yeah, it was about right, about 8.04.
• 1:08:52
  We left in the morning.
• 1:08:53
  They dropped it back an hour, I think it was, because we normally start at 7.
• 1:08:57
  But took off there, and we basically run the 230 kilometres down that track in a trophy truck.
• 1:09:03
  It's not as hard and brutal on the body, but it's more mentally draining being in that thing and just being up.
• 1:09:09
  I was up at 5 o'clock in the morning to get that truck running.
• 1:09:11
  warmed up ready and get it going for the race.
• 1:09:15
  So all my competitors on the motorcycle are still sleeping, getting rested, getting a really good breakfast in.
• 1:09:21
  Like I'm still getting good breakfast, but it's just I'm eating probably six meals through the whole day because it's just you can't eat a whole lot in one big lump.
• 1:09:29
  and feel off for the whole day really.
• 1:09:32
  So eating like six meals for the day.
• 1:09:35
  We take off, get down through the track.
• 1:09:37
  Like I say, we have a helicopter that follows me in the truck in case we have this little gremlin that jumps up and bites you and the helicopter can land anywhere down through the track, pick me up and take me back to the start line for, into Alice for the start of the motorcycle.
• 1:09:51
  But we made a good run down through.
• 1:09:53
  We got down in the Fink in second in the trophy truck.
• 1:09:57
  At about 2 minutes and 50 off the lead.
• 1:10:00
  So we were very, very, very close in on to, yeah, having a chance of winning this thing in the truck.
• 1:10:06
  So everything was good there.
• 1:10:08
  I jumped.
• 1:10:09
  Because everything goes well, I have a plane that will sit down the other end and wait for me at Fink.
• 1:10:14
  We made it there, got in the plane.
• 1:10:16
  It gets me back.
• 1:10:18
  about 15, probably about 15 minutes quicker than what the helicopter will.
• 1:10:21
  So that's like every little minute, every little second counts in this, when we're trying to do the double.
• 1:10:27
  Cause if we get a flat tire that starts eating into my resting time to come back for, for the bike leg.
• 1:10:34
  So any little mechanical issue, um,
• 1:10:36
  um, it starts sapping time off me pretty quickly.
• 1:10:38
  So, uh, so you need to take every precaution we possibly can, which is a helicopter and a plane.
• 1:10:44
  And, um, we fly back, we get back to Alice.
• 1:10:47
  Um, then yeah, basically we have about probably 30 to 35 minutes, uh, rest break.
• 1:10:53
  So we are resting in the plane the way home.
• 1:10:55
  So you do get that, that flight time.
• 1:10:56
  But, uh, once you get to the other end at Alice, you have 35 minutes to sit around and, uh, prepare and get ready.
• 1:11:02
  And, um,
• 1:11:03
  I'll line up and go again and take off into the exact same bit of track I'd just done two hours prior.
• 1:11:09
  So it's a tough old slog.
• 1:11:11
  It's hard.
• 1:11:13
  Body definitely gets beat.
• 1:11:15
  But like I say, yeah, we definitely know it's possible and we know we can win both if everything goes right.
• 1:11:20
  But return trip home the next day just didn't quite go to plan.
• 1:11:24
  Unfortunately, I ended up splitting a power steering pump.
• 1:11:30
  We broke that about 160 kilometres from the finish.
• 1:11:34
  If I was around 30 kilometre mark, possibly 40 kilometre mark, I probably, you can wrestle the thing into town, back to the finish, but it's virtually like...
• 1:11:46
  I don't know, I've never really felt steering that stiff.
• 1:11:50
  Like it's a big hit.
• 1:11:51
  It's a big hit.
• 1:11:52
  You've got to get back on the bike.
• 1:11:53
  That's it.
• 1:11:53
  It's the motorcycle, I'll say.
• 1:11:55
  It's still at the end of the day, the motorcycle's main priority, main goal, main issue.
• 1:11:58
  And that's it.
• 1:12:00
  We had to just make that call, 160 k's.
• 1:12:03
  It was not going to be possible.
• 1:12:04
  So parked the thing on the side of the track, the helicopter landed.
• 1:12:07
  So that was what the helicopter was for, I guess.
• 1:12:09
  And yeah, it flew me back to the start line for day two of Fink and jumped on the motorcycle.
• 1:12:15
  Ran the motorcycle down and it all went really well there.
• 1:12:18
  So I got my sixth win on the bike and, yeah, and a sixth win for the KDM team and myself.
• 1:12:25
  And, yeah, pumped with that result.
• 1:12:28
  Right, quick shift.
• 1:12:29
  A couple of fast ones to finish.
• 1:12:30
  Toby Price listens to what when he drives?
• 1:12:33
  A bit of heavy metal, rock, a bit of everything.
• 1:12:38
  So it's anything that kind of gets the adrenaline going, we're all for it.
• 1:12:41
  And yeah, it gets a foot to the floor.
• 1:12:43
  Your daily drive is?
• 1:12:45
  My daily driver is a Mitsubishi Triton Ute.
• 1:12:48
  So I've been an ambassador for them for the last few years now and love being in the car.
• 1:12:52
  So it's good.
• 1:12:53
  If we walked into the garage at home, would there be a resto project?
• 1:12:56
  And if so, what is it?
• 1:12:58
  Yes, there is a bit of a resto project at the moment.
• 1:13:00
  It still runs.
• 1:13:01
  It's a 1959 Ford F100 truck.
• 1:13:05
  So it's...
• 1:13:05
  Original?
• 1:13:06
  Original, yeah.
• 1:13:07
  So it's a 292 Y block in it.
• 1:13:09
  Basically, the only thing that's really not original on it is the airbag suspension kit.
• 1:13:14
  So it lays out on the chassis, lays on the ground.
• 1:13:17
  And yeah, eventually one day I'll move around to putting a different motor into it.
• 1:13:21
  But it starts, it runs, does everything now.
• 1:13:25
  Yeah, cruises along nicely.
• 1:13:26
  She's a patina look, so it's got all the rust still in it.
• 1:13:29
  And, yeah, it gets a lot of attention.
• 1:13:31
  You found that here or from the States?
• 1:13:32
  No, I found that here.
• 1:13:33
  It was actually here in Australia, and I bought it from a guy a bit further north of Brisbane.
• 1:13:38
  And, yeah, I don't know.
• 1:13:40
  I don't get to drive it too much, don't get to enjoy it too much.
• 1:13:42
  But, yeah, it sits in the shed, and it's a bit of a private place pretty much with the trophy truck, I guess.
• 1:13:48
  It's, yeah, four-wheel fun.
• 1:13:50
  Tough one.
• 1:13:51
  This is a tough one.
• 1:13:52
  Two-stroke or four-stroke?
• 1:13:55
  Yeah, that is a tough one.
• 1:13:57
  So, jeez, I'll have to give it two answers there.
• 1:14:01
  For racing, for sure, it's got to be a four-stroke.
• 1:14:03
  It's just the way it is.
• 1:14:04
  It's just easier bike to ride, better torque, better horsepower.
• 1:14:08
  But for fun, for just...
• 1:14:11
  a bike that will just won't end.
• 1:14:13
  It's cheap to keep it going.
• 1:14:15
  Two strokes is the way to go.
• 1:14:16
  And actually, I'm in the process now building one, a 252-stroke SX.
• 1:14:21
  Basically, yeah, just going to trick this thing out and go and have a hell of a lot of fun up through some trails with it and race Red Bull Day in the Dirt, which is coming up in September.
• 1:14:30
  So it'll be a beast.
• 1:14:31
  I like them.
• 1:14:32
  It's good.
• 1:14:33
  Final one.
• 1:14:34
  Lots of talk in the automotive landscape about electric made.
• 1:14:37
  And, you know, we've seen different people dabble with electric bikes in competition.
• 1:14:41
  What do you think about that and the notion of electric bikes in your world and becoming perhaps the norm?
• 1:14:49
  Look, it's going to be tough.
• 1:14:51
  At the moment, electric stuff is copping a lot of flack just because there's no noise.
• 1:14:59
  The way the future is going, it's definitely going electric way, so we've got to accept that in the way it is.
• 1:15:05
  Yeah, we're going to miss that V8 rule of that power and just, yeah, I don't know, that rumble, I guess.
• 1:15:12
  It's going to be hard, and it's the same with the motorcycle.
• 1:15:15
  It's going to be hard to not hear that two-stroke, smell that burning gas and whatever, and...
• 1:15:22
  Anything like that, but it's the way the future's going.
• 1:15:24
  So we're going to have to just bite the bullet and accept it one day, I guess.
• 1:15:29
  But yeah, I don't like it too much.
• 1:15:31
  I like noise.
• 1:15:31
  I like to make a lot of noise and be heard and be seen, I guess.
• 1:15:35
  But yeah, these things, it's the way it's going for sure.
• 1:15:43
  Rusty's Garage is written and presented by me, Greg Rust.
• 1:15:47
  Series producer and editor is Alex Mitchell.
• 1:15:50
  Audio production by Darcy Thompson.
• 1:16:00
  Listener.