Image: Supplied.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price has extended his Dakar Rally overall lead following his fifth stage victory of the event.

Stage nine of the event saw an early finish at check point two due to the number of competitors exhausted by the heat which deprived Toby Price of the opportunity to open an even bigger gap in the general standings.

At check point one Price held an advantage of more than three minutes over Honda’s Paulo Goncalves before the Portuguese rider experienced a mechanical mishap. With his main rival losing valuable time before attempting repairs at check point two, Price saw his lead build to more than 24 minutes over second place Stefan Svitko and 32 minutes over Pablo Quintanilla in third.

The early finished has proved to be a lucky break for Goncalves who will be credited with a grouped time along with all of the riders stopped at this stage of the race. The Portuguese rider is not totally excluded from the battle for overall victory and will be forced to chase the Australian down.

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