Price loses Dakar stage win due to penalty

Toby Price has lost his win in Stage 5 of the Dakar Rally after being handed a six-minute penalty.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider was handed the punishment due to speeding in a neutralisation zone, meaning he drops to fifth on the Riyadh loop stage.

Ironically, the day’s honours now go to fellow KTM rider Danilo Petrucci, who looked to have secured a maiden podium on Stage 4 of what is his debut Dakar, only to also cop a speeding penalty.

CLICK HERE for Petrucci’s colourful reaction to his history-making achievement

Having been dumped from third to 15th on Stage 4, Petrucci is now the winner of Stage 5 by just two seconds from Yamaha rider Ross Branch.

Price, for whom the victory would have been his first of Dakar 2022, drops from 12th to 13th overall and is now 37:19s behind rally leader Sam Sunderland, who rides for GasGas Factory Racing.

The best placed Australian is GasGas’s other rider, Daniel Sanders, who still occupies fourth overall at 8:01s behind Sunderland.

Stage 5 🏁 5th
Overall ⏱ 13th
Riyadh ➡️ Riyadh
Today there was a bit of a dust storm, so everyone had to be on their game and focus on the roadbook. I made a couple of little errors and mistakes and got a 6 minute penalty. All-in-all it was a solid stage.#Dakar2022 pic.twitter.com/w73OvPntrm

— Toby Price (@tobyprice87) January 6, 2022