A dramatic stage at the Dakar Rally has seriously hurt Australian Toby Price’s attempts to win the prestigious event. Riding in the leading group of three and whilst following other riders, navigation became difficult and both he and team mate Antoine Meo became lost. Forcing both to turn around retrace their steps and eventually make it to the finish. In the overall standings, the lead has changed. Yamaha’s Adrien Van Beveren had a high-speed crash, ending his campaign and handing the race lead to KTM’s Matthias Walkner.
Toby Price: “I’m so disappointed with the result today. It was hot out there and I didn’t have much fluid so that made things even harder. We were running really well right up until the end but obviously made a mistake with the navigation on the final waypoint. It seems a lot of the other riders made a very similar mistake, but I guess that’s the way it goes. I lost a huge amount of time and that is going to be hard to get back, but I’ll keep pushing on and see what the next few stages bring us.”
Although it’s a monstrous task to claw back the amount of time lost, you can never count out Toby Price.
OVERALL STANDINGS
1. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 32:21:03
2. Joan Barreda (ESP), Honda, 33:00:45 +39:42
3. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 33:02:26 +41:23
4. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 33:08:49 +47:46
5. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 33:11:21 +50:18