VOL. 52 ISSUE 14 APRIL 7, 2015 P31
were grounded, thus causing
the cancellation of the stage.
Despite the difficulty, AMA
National Hare & Hound Cham-
pion Ricky Brabec put in a solid
performance as a guest rider
with the Honda's factory HRC
team. Brabec finished fifth and
also topped the junior category.
Ultimately, Brabec was also the
top finisher of the team, as his
Factory HRC teammates Paulo
Goncalves and Joan Barreda
both struggled with electrical
issues. Barreda and Goncalves
each took stage wins (second
and third, respectively), but
suffered in the overall standings
due to their time setbacks.
"Unfortunately the storm was
really crazy last night so we
had to take the highway back,"
Brabec said. "Overall the whole
rally was a great experience
and I learned a lot. I hope to
come back and race a lot more
and get better and better. I
can't thank the Team HRC guys
enough for letting me come out
and ride their Honda CRF450
RALLY."
The Honda team, in return,
was very pleased with the
23-year-old's performance.
"Ricky Brabec has shown here
at the rally that he has a promis-
ing future," said Team HRC Gen-
eral Manager Martino Bianchi.
"We will try and test him again
later this year and see how his
preparation is going."
Jean Turner
American Ricky
Brabec finished
fifth and earned
top Junior divi-
sion honors.
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
HRC
