KTM: Simmonds, Sanders, Price & Long

KTM Australia has announced an exciting 2015 off-road racing squad, which it hopes will again be the orange juggernaut for the others to chase, with the amalgamation of its enduro and desert racing teams into a single squad, and the signing of two new recruits to help tackle its packed and varied calendar.

The 2015 KTM Off Road Racing Team will see champion off-road racer, Toby Price, return alongside South Australian desert racing hotshot, Ivan Long, with new team members, Victoria’s Daniel “Chucky” Sanders and former top-level pro motocrosser, Tye Simmonds.

The team, managed by decorated racer Ben Grabham, will see Price, Simmonds and Sanders target all enduro and off-road majors, with Price, Simmonds and Long forming the brand’s three-pronged desert racing arm.

“We’ve got an amazing group of riders this year and during our recent endurocross testing all of the boys were looking great,” said Grabham. “Obviously, we know what Toby’s capable of, so it’s great to be able to secure him in again. Sanders I’ve kept my eye on and he’s just getting stronger and stronger, and he’s a real character who doesn’t just blend into the crowd. With the desert side of things it looks like it will just be Finke and Hattah because the Tri-Series at this stage is not happening, so after all Toby’s wins last year we’ll try to continue on there, but we’ve also got Ivan Long who went from strength to strength this year and looks like he’s going to continue to move up. Tye is going to do the desert races with us as well, and with a similar motocross and desert background to Toby and his size, I think he’ll be fast. It will take him a little bit to learn the ropes but he is definitely going to be pushing towards the front.”

20-year-old Sanders has been elevated to the factory team on the back of a stellar 2014 in which, as a KTM-mounted privateer, he went almost undefeated in the Transmoto 19 & Under classification of the Australian Off Road Championship on his way to sixth Outright. He also won the Victorian Off Road Championship Outright, and helped the Aussie Junior team onto the podium in his ISDE debut.

Former MXer, Simmonds, is the other exciting new member, with his passion for motorcycle racing now restored after a burnout-induced halt to his motocross career more than a year ago.
While he might be technically an enduro racing rookie, the 22-year-old from Bourke can drop into virtually any dirt riding format and excel, and KTM Enduro Racing Team Manager Ben Grabham has every faith in Simmonds’ ability to make his transition to contesting the AORC a highly notable one.

Aussie off-road racing maestro, Toby Price, has re-signed with the team after a barn-storming 2014 season which included Finke, Hattah and AORC championship wins, a top-eight finish in a round of the World Rally Championship in Morocco, and a stonking ISDE performance in which he dominated the E3 category and went within 45 seconds of winning the world’s biggest enduro event Overall. Even more impressive was the fact that this winning spree kicked off just over a year after a seemingly career-ending broken neck, but Price has certainly proved beyond all reasonable doubt that that recovery is more than complete.

Fellow incumbent Long soared with the backing of the factory this year and looks certain to only improve in 2015.

The new-look KTM Off Road Racing team will have its official competition debut at the first round of the 2015 InsureMyRide Australian Enduro-X Nationals at Brisbane’s Archerfield speedway on Saturday, February 7.