Image: Supplied.

Australia’s Toby Price has maintained his 2016 Dakar Rally overall lead after finishing stage 10 of the event in third place behind Kevin Benavides and stage winner Stefan Svitko.

Exercising the necessary caution, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider finished just five minutes and 47 seconds off the leading time in the stage and now leads the overall standings by over 23 minutes.

“Today was really good,” said Price. “I backed it off a bit to make sure we didn’t make any mistakes and I hit all my way-oints with a big smile on my face. There were no problems, no dramas. It was a strong day and now we just have to try to manage it now until the end.

“Today was long sand dunes, a few little river beds and about 95 percent off track. We had to make sure we stayed on top of the road book and made no mistakes. It was very difficult at around the 30km mark, so I took my time around that spot and I think that’s where I lost some time.

“In the last two days I’ve probably learned more than in my last six rallies. For sure it’s built my confidence up a bit and it shows I can navigate. And yesterday showed I can navigate with a bit of speed.”

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