Ricky Brabec was third in the sixth stage of the Dakar, which took place between yesterday and today. He finished 5m02s behind the winner, his Monster Energy Honda teammate Adrien van Beveren, and now leads the overall standings only 51 seconds ahead of Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports).
The American told the official Dakar website that he enjoyed this marathon stage: ‘The stage was long. I think if we had started at 07:00 [yesterday], we could have finished everything. I feel good. I’m ready for the second week. My fingers are a little sore from the clutch over the past two days, but overall it was fun. I enjoyed it. I know some of the other riders are saying it’s too much, but it’s the Dakar, it’s not easy.’
At the end of the first week, Brabec considered the first goal accomplished: ‘I’m looking forward to the rest day tomorrow. I’m really happy with my first week. The first goal is to reach the rest day and then the second goal is to reach the finish. It looks like we’re going to start the second week at 110 percent and I’m excited about that.’
Regarding the experience of spending 48 hours in the desert and camping, the rider commented: ‘Two days in the desert, it was a lot of fun, honestly. The camp on the last night was really fun. We didn’t sleep that well, but overall it was fun with the guys. We had a little bonfire and barbecue, we cooked our meal.’
