Dakar 2016: After Stage 9, Price Takes Invincible Lead Over Goncalves

Extending his lead in the final, and decisive stages of 2016 edition of Dakar Rally, KTM factory rider Toby Price took a mammoth lead over his rival Paulo Goncalves. In a stage which tested the off-road capabilities of the riders to the max.

At the WP1 of the special stage, Toby Price was leading the stage registering a 2 minute and 3 second lead over Goncalves. Sitting between these two was Stefan Svitko astride his KTM 450 Rally. At CP1, he had extended his lead by 2'58" and 3'02" over Svitko and Goncalves respectively.

Disaster struck Goncalves at CP2 when a tree branch pierced through his radiator leaving him stranded, which cost him more time than he could afford to lose. The tricky sand dunes around a place in Argentina known as Fiambala, and the extremely hot weather (around 100-degrees Fahrenheit) forced the organisers to finish the stage just after CP2.

Also Read: After Stage 8, War Intensifies Between Honda and KTM

When Toby Price reached WP4, he was leading Kevin Benavides by 7'10" and Svitko by over 10 minutes, and Goncalves still hadn't resumed the race. Once he resumed the race and finished the stage, he was trailing behind the KTM rider by more than 34 minutes.

According to the rules, taking assistance from the support crew is forbidden, which means that Goncalves will have to take help of fellow teammates in order to be ready for stage 10.

After stage 9, here are the overall top 10 riders of Dakar 2016:

1. Toby Price (KTM) - 30:55:54

2. Stefan Svitko (KTM) - 31:24:53

3. Paulo Goncalves (Honda) - 31:29:55

4. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) - 31:34:35

5. Antoine Meo (KTM) - 31:38:02

6. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 31:43:57

7. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) - 31:45:57

8. Farres Guell (KTM) - 31:50:04

9. Ricky Brabec (Honda) - 32:00:02

10. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) - 32:05:35