Price narrows the gap

Australian off-road gun Toby Price is now just five-and-a-half minutes off the lead, after a grueling eighth stage in the 2018 Dakar Rally.

The first marathon stage concluded with a 498 kilometre timed special section conducted on day-old tyres, with the wet and slippery conditions pushing both competitors and machines to the limit.

Price (KTM) put in a strong performance to finish third for the stage, behind Frenchman Antoine Meo (KTM) and American Ricky Brabec (Honda).

Meo rode superbly and chased down the lead pack after setting off in ninth. He led on time through the first six waypoints before dropping back to second, then in the last 100 kilometres he pulled out all the stops to eventually finish over one minute ahead of Brabec.

Meo was elated with his efforts through the stage.

"I am really happy with my performance today," he said.

"Right from the beginning my plan was to push and try to regain some time on the leaders. I felt really good today, despite the conditions and the length of the special, I didn’t make any mistakes."

Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) hangs onto his overall lead by some 22 seconds.

"It is great that we keep the lead at the end of this extremely difficult marathon stage," he said.

"The rain, the mud and the high altitude made things really hard for us these last two days. It was really exhausting physically but I managed to get two good stage results. Yesterday I was second and then today I pushed hard and managed to stay close to the leading group.

"For big parts of the special stages yesterday and today I found myself opening the tracks. I am feeling great so far on my bike and I also have a great feeling with my navigation. I can be fast while also avoiding navigational mistakes and that is crucial for the coming stages as well. I feel that I've put the pieces of the puzzle together and now I know what I need to do during the coming stages."

Price, meanwhile, used his experience and skill to maintain a consistent pace to claim third for the stage, despite the treacherous conditions.

"It's been a really long marathon stage – yesterday was 430km and today was 490km – the two longest of the event," he said.

"I'm feeling a little bit sore after racing for nearly 1000 kilometres but apparently we have another rest day tomorrow due to the stage being cancelled. I'm not complaining, I could certainly use the time to recharge, but everyone gets the same break and will be fired up and ready to go again on Tuesday.

"All in all, I'm feeling good and the bike is awesome. I know the stages in Argentina are going to be tough and there are still a lot of kilometres to cover, but I'm in a good position and have not had any issues. The idea is to just stay focused and keep doing what we've been doing."

Australians Rodney Faggotter (Yamaha) lies in 22nd in the overall standings, while countryman Scott Britnell (KTM) is 74th.

Now competitors have an unplanned rest day, as heavy rainfall has flooded sections of the stage nine route that would have taken competitors from Tupiza, Bolivia, into Salta in northwestern Argentina. As such, competition will resume with stage 10, which will get underway on Tuesday.

Provisional Results Stage Eight – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 5:24:01
2. Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, 5:25:09 +1:08
3. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 5:26:46 +2:45
4. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 5:29:53 +5:52
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK), KTM, 5:30:47 +6:46

Provisional Standings after Stage Eight – 2018 Dakar Rally
1. Adrien van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 27:22:03
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 27:22:25 +0:22
3. Matthias Walkner (AUT), 27:28:37 +6:34
4. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 27:29:38 +7:35
5. Joan Barreda (ESP), Honda, 27:30:04 +8:01

Related reading:
Dakar: Price sixth after stage four
Preview: 2018 Dakar Rally