It's a head-start on 2019's incredible Dakar win in which Price rode through the pain of a broken wrist to claim his second Dakar title.

This year the event switches to Saudia Arabia for 12 gruelling stages of competition over 7900 kilometres from January 5 to January 12. The Saudi time zone is eight hours behind Australia.

Speaking ahead of the 2020 Dakar, Price told MCnews.com.au said testing on his bike had been good but it was a whole new challenge this year.

"Winning the 2019 Dakar started off as a bit of a dream, but with a lot of hard work put in behind the scenes by myself and the team we were able to make it happen, even with a broken wrist," he said.

"It took a little time to recover from that event - I had aggravated the injury during the race and needed another surgery and bone graft to fix things. I spent the first part of the year recovering but then was back on the bike for the Atacama in September.

"My feeling on the bike was good there, which was encouraging and I've been getting steadily stronger ever since. Testing has been good, as usual the team have made some important tweaks to the bike, primarily with the suspension, so I'm really pleased about that.

"2020 is going to be a whole different Dakar for us. It's putting everyone back on a level playing field, which I think is good for the sport.

"It's going to be a new race, a new look and I'm really excited for the challenge."

Price's incredible Dakar Rally record includes victories in 2016 and 2019 and third placings in 2015 and 2018.

The only time he hasn't finished on the podium was in 2017 when he retired with a broken femur and cracked ribs following a crash while leading stage four.