Price, who called Singleton home from 2003, finished last night's Stage 5 race with a time of 3 hours, 57 minutes and 33 seconds one minute ahead of his nearest rival Pablo Quintanilla (Chile).

"It's been a good stage, it's actually the first time I've ridden with a big group, so it was quite enjoyable," Price told his fans on social media.

"But at the end of the day, we are competitive and need to stay in front of them."

Price now remains nine minutes behind overall leader Californian Ricky Brabec (who finished fourth in the stage) while Kevin Benavides (Argentina) has dropped to third.

Californian Ricky Brabec remains the leader after four stages while Price now sits 12 minutes and 09 seconds behind in general classification.

Rodney Faggotter is the next best ranked Australian, ranked 17th (1:25'15'' behind the leader) ahead of Ben Young (71st), Trevor Collin Wilson (94th) and Matthew Tisdall (113th).

MEANWHILE Price's Red Bull KTM Factory teammate Sam Sunderland (Great Britain) has been forced to retire after suffering a severe fall.

Sunderland, who was penalised for speeding a day earlier, was sitting sixth in the overall ranking; aiming to add to his 2017 Dakar Rally crown.

"The pain of a crash is nothing compared to the pain of disappointment, unfortunately my race is over after a crash today at kilometre 180," he declared on social media.

STAGE ONE - Finished first with a time of 03:21'33" over 752km

STAGE TWO - Finished 17th with a time of 03:51'23" over 393km

STAGE THREE - Finished fifth with a time of 03:38'06" (variation of 08'35") over 504km

STAGE FOUR - Finished sixth with a time of 04:27'50" over 672km

STAGE FIVE - Finished first with a time of 03:57'33" over 564km