Price closes in on outright lead after stage five win
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price has won the fifth stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally, pushing hard from the start to take the lead by kilometre 152. The two Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing entries of Pablo Quintanilla and Andrew Short finished the stage in second and third, with stage three winner Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team 2020) crossing the line in fourth just over three minutes adrift of Price. The second of the Red Bull KTM Team bikes ridden by Matthias Walkner completed the top five, finishing just over nine minutes behind his Australian team-mate. 2017 Dakar winner Sam Sunderland (Red Bull KTM Factory Team) was unfortunately forced to abandon the race following a fall.
Toby Price: “It was a good day for me today – we’ve seen a big change in scenery with the last half of the stage in the dunes. I got my head down at the start and made some good progress even though it was a bit tricky out there today. I’ve made up some more time on the leaders, which is good and hopefully we’ll have another strong day in the sand tomorrow. I want to wish Sam all the best after his fall today too – hopefully he’s back on the bike again soon.”
Ricky Brabec still holds the top spot in the general rankings with a nine-and-a-half minute advantage over Price who moves into second after his stage five win. Kevin Benavides (Monster Energy Honda Team 2020) slips from second to third, followed by Quintanilla in fourth and Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Monster Energy Honda Team 2020) in fifth.