SINCE SIGNING with Honda in 2016, Californian Ricky Brabec has demonstrated his loyalty despite technical deficiencies, illicit refueling penalties and gaming the route instructions with overnight reference to the Google Earth computer program – which is why course maps are now issued 15 minutes before the start.
Never one to waste energy, Brabec won his first Dakar with only two stage wins and almost surreal consistency. Going into 2024, he was the first rider to fully comprehend the implications of – and the first to take advantage of – the revised bonus time discounts. While his Honda teammates racked up five wins in the first six stages – Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) was only denied the sixth win by a speeding penalty – Brabec came through the critical Chrono48 stage leading overall.
By the time the Chrono48 survivors returned to Shubaytah – a remote single runway airstrip in the middle of the Empty Quarter – there were mixed feelings. Brabec was praising the camp-out initiative (as beneficiaries and
