Australian Dakar rookie Toby Price has achieved his most spectacular finish yet in the world’s biggest off-road race, finishing second in the 688-kilometre Stage 6 between Antofagasta to Iquique.

The KTM 450 Rally rider trailed Portuguese Helder Rodrigues by just a minute and 10 seconds after more than three and a half hours of special stage, with another Portuguese, Paolo Goncalves finishing third.

The result was Price’s third top-five finish in the first six days of the gruelling, 14-day 9000+ kilometre South American epic after he was fifth on day one and fourth on day two.

Toby Price: “I caught a bit of dust at first, but then I made my way around some of the guys and was in the clear. I almost missed a way point at one stage, but I turned back and got it. After than I kept motoring along and I didn’t get lost one bit.

“I was pretty surprised. I think the navigation is slowly coming; I think we’re getting the hang of it now. I take my time with it and at the end of the day its better because I don’t rush things. I’m stoked to be at the half way and to get a good result today.”

Defending champion Marc Coma (KTM) lost ground to Joan Barreda Bort, who leads the rally by over twelve minutes, as the pair finished eighth and sixth for the day.

Riders now have one day to rest and recover as the event, which traverses Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, reaches its mid-event rest day.

Sunday’s day seven of the Dakar challenge will then begin with a climb to 3,500 metres for the start of the Bolivian marathon stage, where riders will compete in the rarefied air with instructions to follow their road books with great care.