Ride With Toby Price @ Day In The Dirt

What started as a one day event in 1998 has turned into what some people call the “MX Woodstock”. It’s a gathering of family and friends and what they love most – dirt bikes, hosted at Southern California’s iconic Glen Helen racetrack. It attracts some of the fastest racers in the world, the who’s who of the moto industry and just everyday racers out there for a tonne of fun. This September, Red Bull Day In the Dirt launches Down Under. It’s the fastest party in town and everyone is invited, including King of the Desert, Toby Price!

It’s safe to say Toby Price is a straight-up bloody legend. He’s got a Dakar crown to his name, but arguably more importantly, he’s tasted victory on two occasions in the holy-grail of Red Bull Day in the Dirt – the famed “Coup de Grace”. Toby knows how to have a good time, so we recently had a chat with the Aussie larrikin to see what he reckons about The Fastest Party In Town heading Down Under…

DITDDU: You’ve got a few Day in the Dirt events under your belt already, so you must be pretty stoked the party is heading Down Under this year…
TP: It’s always a fun time! I’ve raced at three Day in the Dirt events in the US at Glen Helen, so for the party to be coming to Australia, it’s exciting times. It’s an event that’s so much fun and one that I always looked forward to when I was in America. It’s in our home country now, so I’m looking forward to it!

Like you said, you’ve done it a few times. What’s your experience been like at Day in the Dirt?
I think it’s just that everyone is there to have fun – realistically it’s not the results that really matter, and everyone is there for the same reason, and that’s all for the love of where dirt bike riding started. It’s definitely a good party, and at night they have entertainment, events and everything, so it just brings back the days of where it was all for the fun of it.

You’re a two-time champ of the Coup de Grace – what does it take to win such a race?
Look, I can’t give away too many of my secrets (laughs)! The Coup de Grace is a long, gruelling event because you’re on a motocross track and then you’re going into bush loops a little bit, so it’s hard to get a good bike set-up for the race. Also, not really knowing how long the race is going to go for – it’s basically up to the organisers of when the racing is called, so it’s hard to plan your fuel stops. It’s a tough one, but to be able to win two of them in the States has been pretty awesome. Hopefully I can keep that streak going when we kick-off here in Australia.

We saw that you made a social media post a couple of weeks back dishing it out and saying that you’re not going to take it easy on anyone! I guess you’re pretty keen on those bragging rights, hey?
For sure, that’s it! You definitely want to win some races at Day in the Dirt because they have some rad and pretty cool prizes. At the end of the day, it’s not going there to be too competitive, but some of the prizes and trophies that are up for grabs are pretty cool to have at home on your shelf. It sometimes gets a little full-on when you’re there, but you’ve just gotta go there and have some fun.

You’re building a KTM 250SX for Day in the Dirt Down Under. Everyone loves a two-stroke, but why’s that going to be your weapon of choice?
I guess the two-stroke mafia world is taking off again, and I just want to try and join the party and get on a smoker! It’s going to be interesting – I haven’t raced a two-stroke since my Junior career and I did a couple of Supercross races on one. It’s just a fun and cool project – I haven’t built up a two-stroke race bike how I’d like to have it with everything, so it will be cool to showcase it at Day in the Dirt Down Under where the party never stops!

It sounds pretty epic! What’s going into the build?
I’m resourcing bits and pieces here and there, my favourites part is the two-stroke performance – it’s going to have a port and polish, and MotoKote has supplied a full titanium bolt kit for it, so that’s going to be pretty cool because I’ve never had a titanium bolt kit on a bike before! Worx Performance is going to do all the coatings of the engine cases, so it’s going to be pretty cool and have a bit of my own flavour of what I want. I’m looking forward to getting it all together – a lot of companies have come together on it, so I’ll definitely be giving them some recognition on the weekend of the race and hopefully get some wins aboard it!

Day in the Dirt is quite relaxed, so are you going to be pretty available to fans throughout the weekend?
Yeah, for sure! That’s what this event is all about – to go there and relax, chill out and be a part of the people watching the racing go down. To see all the fans and supporters of motorcycle racing, and also my racing, it’s going to be cool to mingle with everyone who comes out and watches, plus all the people who are racing the event. It’s going to be an exciting time and an event that’s going to keep pretty strong and get some good recognition for Day in the Dirt taking off here. It’s cool to be part of the first one, and hopefully many more to come!

There are heaps of different categories and classes, so other than the Coup de Grace, which ones are you eyeing off?
I want to try and enter every class that I can get into! So basically, I’m going to have a bit of a collection of bikes there so I can pretty much make it into every class that’s available to me. I’ll have the two-stroke there, so I’ll be able to do the 2-Stroke Revival, and then I’ll have the 450 for the Pro class and the main one at the end of the weekend, the Coup de Grace.

Thanks for your time mate, looking forward to seeing you in action at Day in the Dirt Down Under!
No worries mate, sounds good! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there.