Through two weeks and 11 full stages of the toughest Rally in the world, Honda CRF450 RALLY riders broke KTM’s stranglehold as Ricky Brabec made history. After 5,000 kilometers of timed specials, Brabec and his Honda teammates took six stage wins, and lead the race from day three on.
American rider Ricky Brabec won two stages outright, as did Chilean José Ignacio Cornejo, while Spaniard Joan Barreda triumphed in stage 10 and Argentinean Kevin Benavides took the top honors in stage 7. The historic win for Honda comes eight years after the marque’s return to Dakar, despite a couple close calls during which the team had narrowly missed out on the top spot, including Brabec’s run last year.
This was his fifth attempt at the Dakar Rally, and last year saw him take his first stage win and assume the overall lead near the end, only to have a mechanical issue force him out of the race. This year he returned with a larger American support crew, including Chief Mechanic Hidenori Hanawa, consultant Johnny Campbell and technician Kendall Norman.
"I'm really excited to be here for Honda and for America as well," Brabec said. "To be the only American to accomplish this goal is amazing. I think it's really a dream come true. Now we've got to set our goals higher and accomplish more…. It was a big, tough race. A lot of kilometers.”
“The team worked great together. The riders were good and the whole team worked well together so I'm really happy. The bikes were really good. We are all here. We are all happy and safe. That was the first goal. I can't thank everyone enough – Honda, Monster and every one of the sponsors behind us. Thank you all so much."