Toby Price takes Subaru WRX to gruelling rally win
Subaru has secured a 1-2 finish in the 2026 Sunraysia Safari, with Toby Price leading home Dean Herridge after the circa-1000km rally.
Toby Price is already a Dakar Rally and Finke Desert Race winner, and now he can add the Sunraysia Safari to his growing list of racing achievements, taking home the top result from the 2026 event while driving a Subaru WRX.
Price was entered into the four-day event aboard a production-specification Subaru WRX, which had safety and suspension modifications (plus a snorkel) as its only add-ons compared to the showroom-spec car.
Along with co-driver Ben Searcy, Price became the fastest vehicle in the event, covering the 1,058.65km of competitive driving in 10 hours, 58 minutes and 36 seconds, at an average speed of 96.45km/h on rugged terrain throughout the New South Wales outback (not the Subaru model).
"This is a really special win," Price said.
“The Sunraysia Safari is a tough event that pushes both driver and car to the absolute limit. We faced a huge variety of conditions across the four days which made it tricky, but the WRX never missed a beat. The team prepared an outstanding package and it's awesome to reward that effort with a win."
Prepared by Maximum Motorsport, the WRX and Price beat team owner Dean Herridge home by 92 seconds, with the former Australian Rally Championship runner-up campaigning the rally in a Subaru Crosstrek, having won the 2025 edition in the same car.
“To get a one-two for the team is a fantastic result and I'm absolutely delighted for everyone involved,” Herridge said.
“The gap back to third was massive, which is a huge credit to the team, the cars and Subaru, and everyone who put the effort in to get us here.
“You don't draft someone like Toby just to make up the numbers. You want to see what the car can do and what he can do with it, and he absolutely delivered. Hats off to him, he drove incredibly well and got everything out of the WRX.
“I'm also really proud of what we achieved with the Crosstrek. To come away with second and put two Subarus at the front of the field shows what a strong package we've got and what the team is capable of.”
Completing the top three in the Auto class was Tony Quinn in a rally-specification, V8-powered Nissan Navara.
