WATCH extended one-hour highlights from every stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally - January 2-15 (AEDT) - EXCLUSIVE and FREE on SBS and .
The two-time Dakar champion has claimed a top-three result in each of the five times he has completed the gruelling two-week race, but Thursday’s result has all but ended his hopes of maintaining that record.
Price lost more than 30 minutes to the leaders of the motorcycle class on a problematic 11th and penultimate stage in Saudi Arabia.
The 34-year-old two-time champion had started out hoping to claw back more time after winning the 10th stage on Wednesday, still believing he might be able to eke his way back from sixth overall up into the top three.
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Instead, it all went wrong for Price, who struggled with navigation and also lost time with a frustrating route validation issue early in the day, as he ended up slipping back to 10th overall, over 52 minutes behind British leader Sam Sunderland.
"It was super dusty today and navigation was tough, but I had a frustrating problem early on at kilometre four where one waypoint didn't validate, even though I'm pretty sure I was in the right place," said Red Bull KTM rider Price.
"I had to zig-zag back and forward and thankfully in the end, even though I was on the same track, it activated.
"Hopefully we can have that checked, but other than that the day went okay, I felt good on the bike and arrived safely at the finish line. One more day to go tomorrow, and that will be the 2022 Dakar complete."
The riders will complete their two-week marathon on Friday with one more session of special stage racing over 164 kilometres between Bisha and the finishing point in Jeddah, with Sunderland in pole position to triumph.
Sunderland, the GasGas teammate of Australian Daniel Sanders who'd been third overall when he crashed out of the race earlier in the week, has regained his lead but is less than seven minutes ahead of his nearest pursuer, Chilean Pablo Quintanilla.
Only 15 minutes 30 seconds separate the top four in the standings - Sunderland, Quintanilla, Austrian Matthias Walkner and France's Adrien van Beveren - in what should be a compelling finale.
In the cars section, Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah seems sure to land his fourth Dakar win as he protects a 33-minute advantage over French nine-time world rally champ Sebastien Loeb.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz, a triple Dakar winner, won the 11th stage for Audi with Al Attiyah seventh in the loop around Bisha. It was his second stage win of 2022 and the 41st of his career.
