Aussie Dakar debutant Toby Price has gone one better than yesterday’s scintillating fifth place, finishing fourth in stage three of this year’s off-road epic between San Juan and Chilecito.

Another KTM-mounted Dakar rookie, Austrian Matthias Walker led home four-time champion Marc Coma and Juan Barreda Bort in the 220km special stage, which traversed steep canyons and dry, rocky creek beds.

With speed to burn but very limited experience in rally navigation, three-time Finke desert race winner Price made hay while the sun shone today, but concedes he may need to yield some ground in subsequent stages of the event.

The KTM 450 Rally-mounted Australian’s best finish of the event so far saw him overtake Jordi Viladoms in the overall standings, however both Walker and Coma moved ahead in the standings, so Price currently sits sixth overall, 14 seconds behind Portuguese Ruben Faria.

“The first part of the stage was fast and open and the navigation was easy,” Price said. “If all the Dakar was like this I wouldn’t have any dramas but I’m still struggling a bit with the road book definitions.

“At this stage I definitely couldn’t lead a stage but hopefully by the end of next week we might be able to do that. Once we get into the desert its game on and a lot of hard work. My pace might drop off a bit but hopefully by the end of next week we can pick it up again.”

Tomorrow the Dakar competitors leave Argentina and enter Chile in a 909 kilometre stage from Chilecito to Copiapo with 315 kilometres of special stage.

The stage will throw everything at riders, with a 4:30am start and climb to a height of 4800m preceding the border crossing, a host of rocky mining tracks, and finally, 40km of giant dunes and basins as competitors enter the Atacama Desert – considered the driest place on earth.