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Price and Overdrive Racing co-driver Sam Sunderland wound up 150th at the end of Wednesday’s gruelling stage before bouncing back on Thursday in Stage 5.
However, the damage was done. From sixth, Price plummeted to 51st overall – all but ending any hopes of a podium finish.
Despite the dramas, Price showed he still had front-running pace. The Australian was 11th quickest in Stage 5.
“We had a much better day today, but yesterday killed us,” said Price.
“It is what it is, unfortunately it didn’t work this time round. I’m just disappointed because I let everyone down who’s on the side of the car who made all this possible.
“We’ll just try and get good stage results now and take it from there. It hurts for the moment, but we’re looking forward to the rest day tomorrow.”
Stage 5 was won by Toyota’s Seth Quintero, who finished just one second ahead of Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Overall, Henk Lategan led at the end of Thursday, 10m17s clear of Price’s teammate Yazeed Al Rajhi of Overdrive Racing.
Not a lot to write home about but I’m determined to make the most of this opportunity and push for some solid stage results!
— Toby Price (@tobyprice87) January 9, 2025
Price was happy with his performance in the stage but conceded the damage had been done.
“Today’s stage was not too bad. We got through it, we lost some time but we were a long way back. We’re just in management mode at the moment,” he explained.
“We didn’t really have enough tyres after yesterday’s stage, so we just tried to get through and keep it safe. We’re looking forward to the rest day tomorrow and the rest of next week. Hopefully we can do well on some stages and see what we can do.
“On the 48-hour Chrono stage I did 940 kilometres on all the same tyres and didn’t get one single flat and then in the space of about thirty kilometres I got four flat tyres, I couldn’t work out why.
“The last one I got was in a 30 km/h speed zone, I think I dropped into a riverbed and sliced my last tyre. It’s super frustrating, a bummer for the first week. But other than that, we’ll regroup and get ready for the second week.
“I feel 100 percent safer in the car, when we’re going through those stones, I’m super glad I’m in a car. But there’s so many moving parts in these things, but when you’re rolling around on what is basically a bag of air, you’re putting your life on the line with a tyre.
“You can spend triple the amount, you can spend ten million dollars but then you get four flat tyres and your day is done. It is what it is. I just guess I’m bummed out for the sponsors that are on-board with it.
“We’ll try and see if we can get a couple of good stage results to keep them happy. It’s been a tough first week, but we’ll keep at it.”
Compatriot Daniel Sanders consolidated his lead on Stage 5. He was tasked with opening the 428km stage, which proved tough.
‘Chucky’ navigated a complex roadbook with hidden waypoints but was regularly inside the top 10 times.
He scored nearly six minutes in bonus time but suffered an eight-minute penalty for speeding, which dropped him to 12th in the stage order.
Still, Sanders leads to the tune of seven minutes over Honda’s Tosha
Competitors will have a rest day before resuming on Saturday for Stage 6.
“I had a lot of fun today, the stage was great and I really focused on my riding while I was opening,” said Sanders.
“I had another issue with my roadbook tablet unfortunately at around the 400km mark, so I had to stay behind the guys leading so I didn’t get lost.
“I’m feeling really good after this first week, my experience has really helped me this year and it’s all coming a lot easier to me now.”
