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Dakar 2018, Stage 13: Price sets pace, Walkner nears victory

Toby Price took his second consecutive win in the penultimate stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally's bike class, as his KTM teammate Matthias Walkner edged closer to the crown.

Walkner, who started the day with a gap of 32 minutes, cruised through the stage and only gave up 9m48s of his advantage.

The 424km stage, which was cut in half by a similarly long neutral zone, was run between Argentine cities San Juan and Cordoba.

Price completed the first half with a one-minute lead over KTM teammate Antoine Meo, and doubled his lead by the time he finished the second section.

Meo fell behind Honda's Kevin Benavides late on, the duo ending up 2m03s and 2m44s slower than Price.

Benavides has a 5m14s lead over Price in the overall order as he looks to secure the runner-up spot.

The Argentine's Honda teammate Ricky Brabec, who was sixth in the overall classification, was forced to retire after a mechanical failure.

His retirement leaves Benavides and Jose Ignacio Cornejo, who is in the lower ranks of the top 10, as the only two factory Honda riders still in the competition.

Behind the top three, Walkner and Sherco TVS rider Joan Pedrero were best of the rest in the stage.

The rally will conclude with a 120km stage, the shortest one since the opener, on Saturday.

Zdroj: motorsport.com