VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P75
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HONDA RACING
CORPORATION, RED BULL CONTENT
POOL, KTM PRESS, GASGAS PRESS
I
t takes a special rider to win
a Dakar Rally, but only the
truly brilliant make it a double.
Ricky Brabec has thus joined
the pantheon of rally racing's all-
time greats that include French-
men Cyril Neveu, Stephane
Peterhansel and Cyril Despres,
Spain's Marc Coma, Germany's
Gaston Rahier, Italy's Edi Orioli,
Great Britain's Sam Sunderland
and Australia's Toby Price.
The American put together
a near faultless 2024 Dakar
Rally, his worst result coming
on the opening Prologue Stage
where he finished 13th. Brabec
and his Factory Monster Energy
Honda never finished lower than
seventh for the remainder of the
rally and was generally in the
podium placings, including a vic
-
tory on Stage 10.
"It's a nice way to start the
year with a victory," Brabec said.
"It wasn't easy, as the course
was really tough and so was the
competition. Ross [Branch] and
my own team kept me on my
toes, but not just me, I think we
were keeping everyone on each
other's toes. It was definitely a
fight to the end for everyone. I'm
really happy we're all here and
all safe and we can go home."
Brabec headed the popular
Botswanan Ross Branch in an
historic Dakar Rally for the Hero
MotorSports team. Branch's
second place was the first time
an Indian manufacturer has
taken to the Dakar podium and
The eyes of the
champion. Ricky
Brabec now joins rally
racing's elite as a two-
time Dakar winner.
