out a stage win, Brabec's Dakar
was an impressive one after
losing nearly an hour on Stage 1B
falling back to 22nd.
"I'm happy and healthy and
ready to go home," Brabec
said. "There was not much else
we could do. We tried to come
back from an hour down. The
first stage killed us. After the first
week it was definitely hard to
pick up the pieces. We'll be back
next year to try and win this thing.
Anything else other than winning
is unacceptable. We're going to
come back next year and hope-
fully try to win.
Brabec came home ahead
of Yamaha's consistent Andrew
Short, with Mason Klein (KTM)
putting in an exceptional debut
Dakar result by clinching ninth
and finishing one place ahead of
two-time Dakar Champion, Toby
Price (KTM).
Price took two stage wins and
almost a third on Stage 5 but was
docked six minutes for speeding
in a controlled section but was
left to lament what could have
been.
"I'm always happy to reach the
finish here at the Dakar, it's been
a really tough race this year,"
Price said. "Losing time on that
first day put me on the back foot
a little for the rest of the stages,
and the way things are now,
any mistakes can lose you a lot
of time on the others because
things are so close. The terrain
here in Saudi makes for a really
fast race, too, a lot of the stages
are sprints to the finish, but the
atmosphere is good and it's a
good place to be."
CN
2022 Dakar Rally Motorcycle
1. Sam Sunderland (GG) 38:47:30
2. Pablo Quintanilla (Hon) +03:27
3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) +06:47
4. Adrien van Beveren (Yam) +18:41
5. Joan Barreda (Hon) +25:42
IN
THE
WIND
P40
Like Brabec, former
winner Toby Price
also suffered early
in the race but came
back to finish 10th.
Danilo Petrucci's Dakar was marked by a
sensational Stage Five win.
