02 Jan2021
The Return of Ricky - Can an American Top the Podium… Twice?
The Dakar Rally doesn’t care where you came from, doesn’t care how old you are, whether it’s your first attempt, or your fifteenth. The Dakar has nothing to prove. It’s you, the rider, the racer, who has to show this cross-country test that you’re capable to completing its grueling course. And that’s what draws so many to its starting line. But in all its years, the Dakar has never seen an American stand atop its podium… until now.
Ricky Brabec raced his first Dakar Rally aboard a Honda CRF450 Rally in 2016 finishing 9th overall. And while a Top-10 finish his first year was certainly impressive, he would fail to finish the next three years in a row, with a heartbreaking engine failure on the penultimate stage in 2019 while leading overall. But hard work and, as Ricky would say, “trusting the process” has paid off for the American, taking home a first-place finish in the bike category in 2020, along with two stage wins. But like a new musician producing their sophomore album, it’s the second one that really counts. So, can the young American make it to the top step of the podium at the world’s toughest race, twice?
The 2021 edition of the Dakar Rally will be unlike any other before it, and arguably unlike any other race in history. Held amidst a global pandemic, the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) will host the rally in Saudi Arabia for the second year in a row, offering racers a landscape and terrain akin to Mars. But according to Ricky, racing in Saudi Arabia last year felt like riding back home in Hesperia, California. The fast and rocky special stages were no match for Brabec, who took home two stage wins on his way to that infamous First-Place finish, which was the first (ever) for an American. Yet, this year presents new challenges for Ricky and his HRC Monster Energy team, namely another young American racer, Skyler Howes.
Racing on a privateer team, with little support, Skyler managed a 9th place finish at the 2020 rally. This accomplishment earned Howes a spot on the BAS Dakar KTM team for 2021. With a fresh KTM 450 Rally under him, and the support of a professional racing team, Skyler is in a prime position to challenge Ricky for the podium. But he’s not the only American with his sights set on Brabec’s Number-One plate. Andrew Short, a 16-year veteran of the AMA Supercross circuit, and Top-10 finisher at the 2020 Dakar Rally, recently signed with the Monster Energy Yamaha team for 2021 and is looking to pick up his first podium finish at Dakar, as well. But aren’t they all?
Three fearless men, each with an impressive resume heading into what looks to be an exciting, albeit different, Dakar Rally in 2021. And they all have exceptionally good chances of finishing atop the podium. Ten years ago that would have sounded like a fairytale. But here we are. A new day, a new Dakar. So, will this be the sophomore album we hope to hear from Ricky Brabec, or can another American racer return home to the USA with their own Number-One hit?
Ricky Brabec raced his first Dakar Rally aboard a Honda CRF450 Rally in 2016 finishing 9th overall. And while a Top-10 finish his first year was certainly impressive, he would fail to finish the next three years in a row, with a heartbreaking engine failure on the penultimate stage in 2019 while leading overall. But hard work and, as Ricky would say, “trusting the process” has paid off for the American, taking home a first-place finish in the bike category in 2020, along with two stage wins. But like a new musician producing their sophomore album, it’s the second one that really counts. So, can the young American make it to the top step of the podium at the world’s toughest race, twice?
The 2021 edition of the Dakar Rally will be unlike any other before it, and arguably unlike any other race in history. Held amidst a global pandemic, the Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) will host the rally in Saudi Arabia for the second year in a row, offering racers a landscape and terrain akin to Mars. But according to Ricky, racing in Saudi Arabia last year felt like riding back home in Hesperia, California. The fast and rocky special stages were no match for Brabec, who took home two stage wins on his way to that infamous First-Place finish, which was the first (ever) for an American. Yet, this year presents new challenges for Ricky and his HRC Monster Energy team, namely another young American racer, Skyler Howes.
Racing on a privateer team, with little support, Skyler managed a 9th place finish at the 2020 rally. This accomplishment earned Howes a spot on the BAS Dakar KTM team for 2021. With a fresh KTM 450 Rally under him, and the support of a professional racing team, Skyler is in a prime position to challenge Ricky for the podium. But he’s not the only American with his sights set on Brabec’s Number-One plate. Andrew Short, a 16-year veteran of the AMA Supercross circuit, and Top-10 finisher at the 2020 Dakar Rally, recently signed with the Monster Energy Yamaha team for 2021 and is looking to pick up his first podium finish at Dakar, as well. But aren’t they all?
Three fearless men, each with an impressive resume heading into what looks to be an exciting, albeit different, Dakar Rally in 2021. And they all have exceptionally good chances of finishing atop the podium. Ten years ago that would have sounded like a fairytale. But here we are. A new day, a new Dakar. So, will this be the sophomore album we hope to hear from Ricky Brabec, or can another American racer return home to the USA with their own Number-One hit?
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