The reigning Dakar champion, Toby Price already started his class of his own in the second stage of 2017 edition of the Dakar. The Australian beat by 4 minutes the second fastest biker of the day and now leads the general classification.
While the competitors are now in a country well known to the Dakar as they visit Argentina for the 9th consecutive year, the region of Chaco had not yet been explored by the rally. The participants discovered narrow tracks which kicked up plenty of dust in a setting reminiscent of the African Savannah. Special attention was required concerning the many wild animals and flooded fords. Furthermore, the heat sorely tested the competitors’ bodies on this first long stage on the Dakar Dakar 2017.
Toby Price gave a show of force and has not waited long to stamp his authority on the 2017 edition. The Australian won the stage with a lead of more than 3 minutes over his team-mate Matthias Walkner and almost four minutes over Paulo Goncalves. Xavier de Soultrait also put in a solid performance with the day’s fourth best time.
Toby Price lived up to his race number 1 by dominating the battle on this second stage. The Australian, the first non-European to have won the Dakar, went on all out attack to leave his team-mate Matthias Walkner and the leading Honda ridden by Paulo Goncalves trailing in his wake. His main rivals of 2016, Pablo Quintanilla and Stefan Svitko are even further back, whilst Joan Barreda has just managed to creep into the top 10.