Fan-favourite Toby Price faced a road book malfunction during the opening stage of the 2020 Dakar Rally, the reigning champion striking luck to follow Red Bull KTM teammate Matthias Walkner for the remainder of the route.

Despite the setback, which Price believes debris jammed the rollers of his scrolling road book, he was still able to post the fastest time to top the opening day.

Acknowledging the result looked strong on paper, the two-time Dakar winner admits it was quite a challenging day to start his title defence.

“I had a really good day today up until about 140 kilometres where my road book started to play up a bit,” said Price. “Something had got in there and jammed the rollers and so I was left without a road book for a while.

“Luckily, I caught Matthias after he lost a little time and I was able to stay with him towards the finish. My result looks good on paper, but it turned out to be quite a tricky day. I’m also opening the stage tomorrow, so hopefully that’ll go well, too.”

Racing resumes on Monday for stage two, where riders will take on 393 kilometres, the stage including a short 26-kilometre liaison and a timed special of 367 kilometres.