Price maintains lead after third in stage 10

From KTM:

Slovak KTM rider Stefan Svitko, competing in his seventh Dakar Rally, on Wednesday mastered the second half of the second marathon stage to take his first ever stage victory in this epic annual race. Meanwhile, exercising the necessary caution, overall leader Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price finished third in the stage and is now in front by just over 23 minutes.

Price finished behind second-placed Kevin Benavides, just five minutes 47 off the leading time. Paolo Goncalves of Portugal was fourth in the stage, but after problems in stage nine, the rally’s early leader is now 34 minutes 15 behind Price in the overall standings.

Price: “Today was really good. I backed it off a bit to make sure we didn’t make any mistakes and I hit all my waypoints with a big smile on my face. There were no problems, no dramas. It was a strong day and now we just have to try to manage it (the rally) now until the end.”

Commenting after the stage Svitko said he had not expected to be in overall second at this stage of the rally: “There are three more stages before the end but I’m very happy with the classification. I didn’t expect that.”

Riders were coming off the second marathon stage where overnight they are not allowed any contact with their teams and must manage their machinery and tires to last over two days of very hard riding. The first half of the marathon was somewhat controversial after it was called to a halt at the second CP for most of the field. Price and 11 other riders rode over the whole distance, more than 100km more in very tough conditions.

Reflecting on Tuesday’s ride Price, who sealed his fourth stage win that day commented: “It was a tough day, the hardest terrain and in a straight line for more than 100km. I was almost on the limit in the hot temperatures in the sand dunes. It was difficult but we did a good pace.”

“Today was long sand dunes, a few little river beds and about 95% off track. We had to make sure we stayed on top of the road book and made no mistakes. It was very difficult at around the 30km mark, so I took my time around that spot and I think that’s where I lost some time. In the last two days I’ve probably learned more than in my last six rallies. For sure it’s built my confidence up a bit and it shows I can navigate. And yesterday showed I can navigate with a bit of speed.”