Fan-favourite Toby Price faced a road book malfunction during the opening stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally, the reigning champion striking luck to follow Red Bull KTM teammate Matthias Walkner for the remainder of the route.

Despite the setback, which Price believes debris jammed the rollers of his scrolling road book, he was still able to post the fastest time to top the opening day.

Acknowledging the result looked strong on paper, the two-time Dakar winner admits it was quite a challenging day to start his title defence.

“I had a really good day today up until about 140 kilometres where my road book started to play up a bit,” said Price. “Something had got in there and jammed the rollers and so I was left without a road book for a while.

“Luckily, I caught Matthias after he lost a little time and I was able to stay with him towards the finish. My result looks good on paper, but it turned out to be quite a tricky day. I’m also opening the stage tomorrow, so hopefully that’ll go well, too.”

Racing resumes on Monday for stage two, where riders will take on 393 kilometres, the stage including a short 26-kilometre liaison and a timed special of 367 kilometres.

Martin Davalos has secured a 450SX seat in the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship after signing with Team Tedder Monster Energy Lucas Oil KTM Racing, the squad understood to be receiving factory support from the Austrian manufacturer.

Davalos will be joined by Dakota Tedder for the 2020 supercross season, the duo to race the same machinery made available to Red Bull KTM Factory Racing riders and the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM squad.

Davalos, 32, pointed out of the 250SX category after the 2019 season, however has been adamant for significant time on his desire to graduate to the premier class.

The Ecuadorian recently put in a strong performance at the Geneva Supercross, where he claimed victory on night one before finishing just shy of the top spot on night two. He was still piloting Kawasaki machinery at the Swiss event.

The opening round of the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship is scheduled for 4 January at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

A fast-tracked recovery following a frightening crash at the Monster Energy AUS-X Open Melbourne last month will grant Aaron Tanti adequate time to prepare for a five-round stint in the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.

The Serco Yamaha challenger was initially thought to be sidelined for up to eight weeks after suffering bone bruising around his hip and pelvic region, alongside internal damage.

Tanti, who was in contention for the SX2 crown at Melbourne’s season-finale, revealed plans this week to contest the first five rounds of the 250SX West series in America, which kicks off on 4 January.

The New South Welshman has suggested his injuries are rapidly healing, allowing him to recommence training before a scheduled return on the bike in the coming days.

“Initially I felt pretty bad after that crash, but after a few days and visiting a specialist, I started to come up pretty good,” Tanti explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “I only had a week off training – I’m training now – but I’ll ride in the next few days.

“We were pretty much going to go off my results in the supercross series after talking to the guys that are helping me get over there – I wanted to be competitive here, and I feel like I was riding really well and they were happy how I was over here.

“Serco Yamaha is helping me a lot – I’m taking mechanic Ben [Dutton], and our bikes and parts are being sent from here. Gav [Eales] is organising a lot of the stuff over there for me. The other major helper is Complete Parts – they’re helping me a lot to get over there.”

Tanti joins a list of regular Australian supercross contenders to be entering the opening rounds of the AMA Supercross series, which includes Luke Clout (Penrite Honda Racing), Jay Wilson (Yamalube Yamaha Racing) and Joel Wightman (Honda). Australian teenager Jett Lawrence (Geico Honda) is also set to embark on his rookie season.