Australian off-road and enduro motorsport star Toby Price and co-driver Ben Searcy have made history at the 2026 Sunraysia Safari, taking outright victory in a production Subaru WRX after four punishing days and more than 1,000km.
In a dominant performance for Maximum Motorsport, Price and Searcy led from the front in the nine stage event through the rugged NSW outback, to claim the overall win with a total time of 10 hours, 58 minutes and 36 seconds.
Teammates Dean Herridge and co-driver Sam Hill brought their Crosstrek home in second, securing a one-two finish for the Subaru team, with just 1 minute and 32 seconds separating the two crews at the finish.
One of Australia’s most gruelling cross-country rallies, the Sunraysia Safari threw everything at competitors, with a demanding mix of sandy tracks, station roads, technical navigation sections, and high-speed outback terrain.
Long, heavy grass made some parts of the course even more challenging this year. The result adds another achievement to Price’s remarkable off-road career, which includes victories at the legendary Dakar Rally and Finke Desert Race.
It also provided a formidable test of the production model across some of Australia’s harshest terrain. “This is a really special win. Every time I drive this Subaru WRX it blows me away, it keeps surprising me what this car can do,” Price said.
“To take a production WRX and come away with the overall win speaks volume about the capability and engineering of the car, and the incredible effort of everyone involved,” he added.
“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.”
Based on the current production Subaru WRX, Price’s rally car was prepared for competition with safety and suspension modifications. It went head-to-head with specialised rally machinery across the event, emerging victorious.
For driver and team principal Dean Herridge, the result delivered another strong performance at an event he knows well. The 2025 Sunraysia Safari winner backed up last year’s victory with a second-place finish in his Subaru Crosstrek.
“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.”
