Ricky Brabec: “it’s going to be me, Adrien and Ross as the top 3 tomorrow”

Dakar 2024 | Stage 11 | ALULA > YANBU
January 18 ^th 2024 - 14:33 [GMT + 3]

In full control, Ricky Brabec is on his way to his second Dakar victory. The Honda rider managed the penultimate stage of the rally perfectly, conceding just 30 seconds to Ross Branch, who started behind him. With one day to go to Yanbu, Brabec has a ten-minute lead over the Hero rider.  

“It’s close. I opened the whole day by myself and I was expecting my team-mate Nacho to catch me, but unfortunately he had a little issue. Then I was waiting for my team-mate Adrien for him to grab some bonus time. I know Ross is pushing hard today and I don’t know what the results are so far from the stage, but I have a feeling that it’s going to be me, Adrien and Ross as the top 3 tomorrow. We’ll see what happens, but there’s still one stage to go. I would say it was my best ride of the rally. On the last 100 km, I went really slowly just to get here and wait for my team-mate, but I made no mistakes today. I put my head down and I got to the finish. The first goal on the Dakar is always to make it to the rest day. Obviously, you have to make it day by day, so the first goal is essentially to make it day by day, but after you make it through the first day, you say I want to make it through the second day and then you want to make it to the rest day. Once you make it to the rest day your next goal is to make it to the finish. If you finish the Dakar, that’s a win. It’s gnarly, the Dakar’s not easy, especially for the bikes because we’re up at three in the morning and we’re riding all morning, we’re riding all day and we’re getting back to the bivouac late. But finishing the Dakar is a win in my book and if you can win the Dakar it’s legendary. We’ll go back to the bivouac, we’ll talk to the team and we’ll push on for tomorrow. There are so many bushes out there; there are none right here on the video, but these bushes have thorns that are very long, like cats’ claws. I got one right here on the first day and I had to see the medical team and get it cut out of my arm, but the thorns reach out and grab you so easily. To not have a ripped jersey at the end of the Dakar is difficult, you can’t miss the bushes”.