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Australia's Toby Price has finished sixth in the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally lifting him into the top ten but compatriot Daniel Sanders has broken his arm.

Australia's two-time former winner Toby Price rode a solid eighth stage of the Dakar Rally in the Saudi Arabian desert to move into the top ten in the overall standings.

Veteran Price, 34, is carrying the flag for Australia after Daniel Sanders was forced to retire from the endurance at the weekend following a crash on his KTM 450. Sanders, who was lying third, fractured his left elbow and wrist and will undergo surgery.

"Daniel will remain in hospital overnight tonight while undergoing ongoing medical checks, ahead of expected surgery on his elbow tomorrow," his GasGas team announced late on Sunday.

Price, on his Red Bull KTM, came sixth in the 120km stage on Monday. That left him ninth overall, 32 minutes behind British leader and stage winner Sam Sunderland with four stages remaining.

Price tweeted: "It wasn't too bad today! Got through pretty smooth, only a few small mistakes, it's hard to not make any out there. Bike was great, we've got some work to do, but for now ready for bedtime."

Molly Taylor, the first Australian woman to race in Dakar, and her co-driving compatriot Dale Moscatt finished 8th on the stage in the SSV category for four-wheel side-by-side vehicles. They are now 11th overall of the 33 remaining vehicles.

In the cars category Frenchman Sebastien Loeb cut Nasser Al Attiyah's substantial lead as Sweden's Mattias Ekstroem won the stage

Nine-times world rally champion Loeb finished third for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team to cut his Toyota rival's lead from 45 minutes to just under 38.