Motorsport: Dakar Rally title defence a world apart for former Hunter rider Toby Price

The 32-year-old, born in Hillston and now based on the Gold Coast after growing up in Singleton and living at Maitland, has the 2020 course firmly in his sights in Saudi Arabia having previously claimed two crowns in South America.

This year's 12 stage and almost 8000 kilometre race, which begins on Sunday, is the first of five in the Asian nation and Price wants to taste success straight up at the new venue.

"2020 Dakar is going to be a completely different ball game for all of us," Price said during an interview posted on Murat Gunarslan's YouTube channel.

"We're going to be welcomed into Saudi Arabia for the very first time for the race, but we don't know what to expect. It's kind of a good thing too because it puts everybody onto a level playing field.

"Nobody's at an advantage and nobody's at a disadvantage. No one really has any idea what's in store there.

"We'll just see what the event brings and hopefully it's a good, successful one. We're going to be there for the next five years so we'll see how it all goes."

Price became the first Australian to win the Dakar Rally in 2016 and backed it up with a second prize three years later. He finished third on debut in 2015 and again clinched bronze in 2018. He was forced to withdraw from the 2017 edition after crashing while leading stage four and suffered a broken leg.

Having recently wrapped up preparations in Morocco and Spain, Price said "I'm kind of sick of having injuries while I'm riding, I just want to be healthy for one".

He completed the pre-race "Shakedown" on Friday.

Price, on Thursday, posted an image to social media and wrote a caption: "Ready to move some dirt".

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