Cycle News

Cycle News 2016 Issue 03 January 26

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/631326

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INTERVIEW DAKAR RALLY FINISHER RICKY BRABEC P84 bike the whole time. KTM vs. Honda Team Structure As far as the setup and logis- tics, I think they're pretty equal. We both had motorhomes, we both had one of those big ol' parts trucks, but I think they're pretty equal. It's just a matter of playing it smart or playing it safe at the same time. I don't really know because this is all new to me, but I do know that this rally stuff is kind of a game on some days. A Change Of Pace You can't go hard for 13 days in a row because you'll eventu- ally get tired. I didn't know when to go fast or when to back down so I just kind of—Quinn told me to keep my pace at a fast pre-run pace like I would in Mexico. I did that every single day. It worked out pretty well, but from what I got out of it, those [top] guys go really hard in the beginning; then in the middle like around the rest day, they go like 75 percent and play it smart and safe. Then the last few days they go hard. I didn't know. I just went out there and rode because I'm still learning. Now I know what to ex- pect, for sure, because this year I was prepared, but I don't think I was prepared like I should've been prepared. I didn't know what to expect. Now I know how to train, for sure. I went to Dakar [this time] to learn everything about it and now I think next year I can be better because I will be prepared a little bit more in different ways. Marathon Man The marathon [stages], be- cause you can't do anything to the bike [after finishing the first part], I think the two marathon [stages], for sure you hold back a little bit because you don't want to wreck the bike. If you wreck the bike on the first [day of the] marathon [stage], you can't work on it that night, then you have to ride the whole next day with a beat-up bike. The marathon [stages] for sure you're playing it really safe and smart because if you wreck the bike, it's going to slow you down the next day so it's better to slow down at first and just make it there. That way, you have a bike that's 100 percent both days because no one wants to race with a beat-up bike because that slows you down. If you bend the exhaust pipe or handlebar, you're stuck with that because they don't carry parts for you [into the bivouac of THE MECHANICS HAD THE BIKES FREAKING LOOKING LIKE BRAND- NEW EVERY SINGLE DAY! IT WAS AWESOME.

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