Two-time Dakar champion Price led at the halfway mark by two minutes and 16 seconds from Honda's Kevin Benavides with Ignacio Cornejo a further 41 seconds behind.

Ignacio Cornejo finished second on the marathon 471km timed stage, 2min07sec behind 2020 champion Ricky Brabec who moved up to eighth overall with the stage win.

Price finished seventh on the gruelling stage, with fellow Australian Daniel Sanders fifth and moving up to ninth on the overall standings.

"Everything went well today, I just tried to manage the stage as best as I could and not make any huge mistakes," Price said.

"It's been a tough day but I'm happy with how things have gone, and it looks like we're in good shape for tomorrow. Seven days done now, but still a fair few to go."

Price said there was a bit of an underlying issue with the bike but all in all they were in a pretty good position after stage seven.

It has been an eventful week for Price who won the opening stage and third stage of the rally punctuated by a disappointing stage two when he dropped 32 minutes and finished 28^th after problems with his rear fuel tank forced him to conserve fuel.

After costly mistakes Price finished 22^nd on stage four, but a strong performance on stage five saw him finish third and rise to fourth overall.