The Dakar rally has reached the halfway point in Saudi Arabia after a grueling eight stages in hostile weather.
Stage 7 was cancelled due to the weather over the weekend, and flooding on the racetrack had rally organisers taking the competitors on an improvised route in order to finish the eighth stage.
Former Hunter enduro and off-road racer Toby Price finished the eighth stage in 17th position after picking up a one minute speeding penalty yesterday.
Price slipped to fourth position overall, just under two minutes behind the leader Skyler Howes from the United States.
“In the leading group today we were leaving perfect tracks for the guys behind to follow, so it was inevitable that we would lose some minutes. The rocks were super-slippery, too, which meant it was best just to ease off a little rather than risk a crash.
“This is the biggest achievement straight up, its the first goal you set,” said Price on reaching the halfway mark of the Dakar Rally.
“Now we relax, chill, try and catch back up and get ready for the second week which is really when the race starts.”
Fellow Australian rider Daniel Saunders is in 7th position in the overall ranking after finishing the more than 822 kilometre eighth stage in second position.