Toby Price is squarely in contention for overall honours in the motorcycle division of the Dakar Rally after he and his KTM team swept Stage 5 in Bolivia.
He accomplished that by getting out front and staying there at every time check of an endurance-testing 317 km stage through mountainous off-road terrain, much of it beyond 4,600 m elevation.
The result regained precious time in the overall standings that Price had lost in the earlier stages. He clawed his way to third place and sits less than two minutes behind Paulo Goncalves and he trails second place by less than two seconds.
Price seems to have an affinity for the marathon element of off-road motorcycle racing, since he was repeating the big move up in standings that he produced last year. He leads his KTM teammates Stefan Svitko and Matthias Walkner by a comfortable margin, but the three combined seriously cut into the lead held by Team Honda.
Price gained nine minutes on Team Honda rider Goncalves, who had issues with the thin oxygen at the high altitude.
KTM rider Stefan Svitko currently holds second position two seconds ahead of Price. Walkner occupies fifth, with less than three minutes separating the top five riders.
