he at least nabbed the Stage Six
victory. By his own admissions,
Brabec "got his ass kicked" in
2025, but vows he'll be back to
try and join the elites as a three-
time Dakar champion in 2026.
"I've won twice, got on the po
-
dium in second-place position,
and I was hoping to get back
on it at some point, but I wasn't
able to make a breakthrough,
and the other guys were riding
really well, so hats off to them,"
Brabec said. "It's really hard
winning back-to-back, which
has been impossible for the last
10 years. I really wanted to do
it; you know sinking is not an
option, and I never give up. So, I
think we're going to keep going
until we can win again."
In sixth place was Brabec's
perennial shadow in the overall
standings, teammate Skyler
Howes. The Utah resident
drifted in and out of the top 10
on each of the 12 stages run in
2025, his best result being sec
-
ond on Stage Two, but his and
Brabec's navigational dramas
handed an early checkmate to
Sanders in the overall.
"There's obviously work to be
done; I wanted to finish on the
top step of the podium, so sixth
place just means that I need to
beat five other people," Howes
said. "We've got work to do
this year, so we're going to get
straight back to it—there's no
rest days—and we'll come back
swinging again next year."
ROUND 1 / JANUARY 3-17, 2025
BISHA TO SHUBAYTAH, SAUDI ARABIA
OFF-ROAD I FIM WORLD RALLY-RAID CHAMPIONSHIP / DAKAR RALLY
P84
Mason Klein
showed flashes
of brilliance, but
once again, his
machinery let him
down, dropping him
out of the rally on
Stage Seven.
(Left) Ten down, two to go. Ricky
Brabec, at the start of Stage 11,
looks like he just wants this edition
of the Dakar to come to an end.
