Australian Toby Price is fifth overall in the bike's category at the halfway point of the Dakar Rally after a fourth-placed finish in the seventh stage.
After finishing Saturday's stage from La Paz to Uyuni in a time of 5hrs 19min 53sec -- 8:43min behind winner Joan Barreda Bort of Spain -- 2016 champion Price is 13:34 behind leader Adrien van Beveren.
Rodney Faggotter is 23rd, almost two hours off the pace while his fellow Aussie Scott Britnell is more than 14 hours behind in 77th
In the car's category, Carlos Sainz seized the lead from Peugeot teammate Stephane Peterhansel after the defending champion struck a rock and lost almost two hours repairing his vehicle.
Sainz won the 425km timed section of the 727km stage to lead Toyota's Qatari driver Nasser al-Attiyah by 1hr and 11min.
Peterhansel, who had been 27 minutes ahead of Sainz after leading the rally from Peru into Bolivia, hit trouble while trying to overtake a bike at the 186km mark and came to a halt.
Peterhansel ended the stage third overall.
Sunday's special stage is the longest of the rally, a 498km timed section from Uyuni to Tupiza that includes high-altitude sand dunes at 3,500 metres.
The rally finishes in Cordoba, Argentina, on January 20.
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