Australian Toby Price kept his campaign for a third Dakar title on track holding onto second in the overall standings after modified stage six
The 35-year-old Queensland-based rider finished third in Friday's sixth stage, despite taking things a little easier after hurting his back and shoulder in a crash the previous day.
The Red Bull KTM racer is now 3 minutes 31 seconds behind Husqvarna's Skyler Howes in the standings, dropping another 1:24 to the American rider, who finished second on Friday's exhausting 758km trek behind his Argentinian teammate Luciano Benavides.
Argentine Luciano Benavides was the man to beat on Stage 6 of the Dakar winning the 325km Special Stage ahead of Husqvarna teammate Skyler Howes
"That's another day ticked off, it has certainly been a long one!" said Price, who's after a third win following triumphs in 2016 and 2019.
"I had that crash yesterday (when he was unable to avoid Joan Barreda, who had fallen ahead of him), so I've been a little bit sore on my back and took it a touch easier today.
"But all in all, everything is going well so far. We've got the marathon stage tomorrow, so that is always a big test to look after yourself and the bike.
"Hopefully it's not as cold as it has been over the last few days, but we'll do our best, get through it as always, and keep having fun."
After his calamitous fifth stage while feeling ill, Price's compatriot Daniel Sanders, the race's early pacesetter this week, had a better day, finishing seventh, three minutes behind Benavides, which leaves the Victorian eighth overall, almost 20 minutes down on Howes.
Carlos Sainz Sr had a tough day in the Dunes suffering major mechanical issues after crashing on stage 6 Credit: IPA/Sipa USA
French veteran Peterhansel crashed after 212km as four-time champion Al-Attiyah
took his third victory of this year's event, to extend his lead over South African teammate Henk Lategan to an hour and six minutes.
Catch the stage six highlights tonight from 5 pm AEDT on SBS and anytime on SBS On Demand.
