Two-time Dakar Rally winner Toby Price has opened his title defence with a stage win on day one of the 2020 race in new event home Saudi Arabia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 32-year-old endurance motorcycle rider, who grew up in Singleton and used to live in Maitland, finished two minutes and five seconds clear on the 752-kilometre journey from the start line in Jeddah to Al Wajh on Sunday.
Price, who claimed his two crowns in South America in 2016 and 2019 having made his Dakar debut in 2015, stopped the clock in three hours, 19 minutes and 33 seconds (3:19.33).
US competitor Ricky Brabec was next best in 3:21.38 and Austria's Matthias Walkner (3:22.13) is third.
During a mid-stage interview posted on Dakar's social media platforms, Price said "so far so good" when placed third.
"We've only done 100 kilometres, but it's quite tricky. It's very heavy on the head at the moment, you've really got to take notice of the tracks and the pieces you're on. All in all, we're still here and plenty of days to go."
Racing continues on Monday with stage two from Al Wajh to Neom.
