“I would say today was my best ride of the Rally, said 2020 Dakar Winner Ricky Brabec from the bivouac. Although rival Ross Branch finished Stage 11 first, the cagey veteran kept him from making up any time to stay P1 for the final sprint tomorrow. According to Monster Honda Rally Team manager Ruben Faria. “We knew if something happened in front it would have been easy for Ross to recover some time on Ricky overall. It was quite stressful as it was a long day for us all, but in the end Ricky rode a really good stage and it’s a good step for tomorrow as he will start behind Ross.”
Leading out today, Brabec slowed in the last 100 km of the special so that teammate Adrien Van Beveren could catch up and take a share of the bonuses to help his own podium bid. Although an honorable thing to do, the American also banked five minutes in bonuses which moved him up from 4th to 2nd on the Stage with just over half a minute the final difference between Brabec and Branch on the timesheet.
“The first goal on the Dakar is always to make it to the rest day,” he notes. “Then the next goal is to make it to the finish. If you finish the Dakar, that’s a win. It’s not easy, especially for the bikes because we’re up at 3 am and we’re riding all morning, we’re riding all day and we’re getting back to the bivouac late.” But it is worth it, says the first American to ever win Dakar.
“Finishing the Dakar is a win in my book,” concludes Brabec. “If you can win the Dakar, it’s legendary!”
With the gap exceeding ten minutes over Branch overall, the 32 year old American is on course for his second Dakar victory tomorrow. The 12th Stage will be a short 175 km sprint along the shores of the Red Sea to determine if Brabec bags his second Bedouin trophy.
Dakar Rally - Stage 11
Pos. Rider Nation Team Time/Gap
1 BRANCH Ross BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally 04:51:57
2 BRABEC Ricky USA Monster Energy Honda Team +0:32
3 VAN BEVEREN Adrien FRA Monster Energy Honda Team +3:17
4 BENAVIDES Luciano ARG Husqvarna Factory Racing +4:38
5 PRICE Toby AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +6:31
6 BENAVIDES Kevin ARG Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +9:08
7 SANDERS Daniel AUS Gas Gas Factory Team +12:23
8 MICHEK Martin CZE Orion Moto Racing Group +14:27
9 SVITKO Stefan SLO Slovnaft Rally Team +15:47
10 QUINTANILLA Pablo CHI Monster Energy Honda Team +17:34