Here it is, the almost certain winner of the 2024 Dakar Rally: Ricky Brabec. The Honda pilot was super excited to finish another stage of the competition in great form, after finishing second. He now has over 10 minutes difference over Ross Branch, and considered this to be his best performance so far.
Right after the end of the stage – when it comes to final and defined results – Brabec talked about his day and how he relied on his teammates’ help to achieve the best possible result: ‘It’s almost there. I started the whole day alone and was waiting for my teammate [José Ignacio] Nacho [Cornejo] to catch up with me, but unfortunately he had a little problem. Then I was waiting for my teammate Adrien [Van Beveren] to gain some bonus time. I know Ross [Branch] is pushing hard today and I don’t know the stage results so far, but I have the feeling that tomorrow it will be the three of us – me, Adrien, and Ross – in the top three’.
So far, Brabec considers this to be his best performance in the competition: ‘We’ll see what happens, but there’s still one stage left. I would say it was my best rally performance. In the last 100 km, I went very slowly just to get here and wait for my teammate, but today I didn’t make any mistakes. I kept my head down and managed to reach the finish line. The first goal in Dakar is always to reach the rest day. Obviously, we have to do it day by day, so the first goal is essentially to do it day by day, but after we pass the first day, we say: “I want to pass the second day”, and then we want to reach the rest day’.
The Honda pilot emphasized the great effort it takes to participate in a competition like this: ‘When we reach the rest day, the next goal is to reach the finish. If we finish the Dakar, it’s a victory. The Dakar is tough, it’s not easy, especially for motorcycles, because we wake up at three in the morning and ride all morning, ride all day, and return late to the bivouac. But finishing the Dakar is a victory for me, and if we manage to win the Dakar, it’s legendary. We will return to the camp, talk to the team, and continue tomorrow’.
And he concluded: ‘There are so many bushes out there, there are none here in the video, but these bushes have very long thorns, like cat claws. I got one right here on the first day and had to go to the medical team to have it cut from my arm, but the thorns come and grab us very easily. Not having a torn shirt at the end of the Dakar is difficult, you can’t avoid the bushes’.
