Price, the Hunter-raised rider who became the first Aussie to win a category of the gruelling two-week race after a podium finish in his maiden attempt in 2015, is 14th of 136 riders after the 35km special stage through the sand dunes around Pisco, down the coast from Lima.

Price, racing for the Red Bull KTM factory team, recorded a time of 24min 16sec to be 3:21mins off leader and defending champion Sam Sunderland of Great Britain.

The 30-year-old crashed out of last year's race in stage four which left him with a broken leg.

“I’m happy to get that first stage under my belt,” Price said.

“I didn’t quite get the result that I wanted but it was a really short stage and there’s a long race ahead.

“My plan is to build things up slowly and take each day as it comes.

“I bombed out hard early on last year so I wanted to get today done and then concentrate on getting into the race a little more.

“The pace is there, and my leg feels good so I’m excited for the rest of the event.”

Price’s countrymen, Rodney Faggotter, on a Yamaha, and Scott Britnell, for Grit Adventures, are 25th and 44th respectively.

In the cars category, Qatar's two-times winner Nasser al-Attiyah took the opening stage while nine-times world rally champion Sebastian Loeb struggled after his Peugeot suffered brake issues.

Peugeot's reigning champion Stephane Peterhansel of France, who is chasing a 14th Dakar win, was in 11th place while Portuguese soccer coach Andre Villas Boas, entering his first Dakar, was in 46th place.