Price entered the return leg of the Marathon through Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter just 28 seconds behind Husqvarna’s Skyler Howes, but emerged from the 185-kilometre special with an identical lead of his own.
Howes trailed Price to the finish by 56 seconds in Shaybah, finishing sixth, with fellow GC rival Kevin Benavides (Red Bull KTM) ahead in fifth and Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM) crossing in fourth.
It was exactly the kind of result Price had been hoping for as the rally reaches its finale, with the Red Bull KTM star looking to add to his two Dakar titles.
“The marathon stage has gone well. I have to admit, I didn’t sleep that well yesterday, but I gave it my all out there on the dunes,” Price said.
“I wasn’t sure of the result when I came in to the finish today, but it looks like I’m back on top, leading the race. It’s a really close race right now and even the smallest problem could cost you the win.
“My plan is to keep on pushing over the next two days and try and have some fun.”
The 35-year-old’s 28-second lead in the general classification wasn’t the only good news for Australians in the bikes category, as Sanders produced his second consecutive second-placed finish to a stage, this time behind Monster Energy Honda’s ‘Nacho’ Cornejo.
Nacho Cornejo shook off Sanders soon after the 156th kilometre and held firm for his first stage win of the event, and though the latter was happy to consolidate his place in the top 10, he admitted it wasn’t an easy day.
“My arm is not too good,” said Sanders, who has been hampered by a painful thorn in his arm. “It’s pretty painful today.
“We’ll go back and see if the thorn or the needle thing is coming out because today was pretty painful. It was really annoying going across all the chotts because the vibrations was moving it all the time, so I was trying to push it back into the muscle because I think it’s trying to come out.
“It’s just a pain. We’ll probably get it out today. I’d tried to get to the end of the race, but another two days with it doesn’t feel good. It’s not good, it’s not fun.
“Tomorrow, we’ll see where we start, hopefully we’ll be back a bit and push to try and win it, then the last day is reverse order, so it doesn’t matter if you win tomorrow, you start last of the bikes so all the lines are already there. It will be good fun.”
Only two stages remain in this year’s Dakar, with Stage 13 next on the agenda as riders traverse 675 kilometres of testing terrain to reach Al-Hofuf.
Catch the stage highlights tonight from 5pm (AEDT) on SBS and any time on SBS On Demand.
