Dirt and Trail May 2020

Is winning Dakar like you
dreamed Or is there anything
that caught you off guard?
Ricky Brabec: The aftermath of
winning the Dakar is a dream
come true. There’s a lot of work, a
lot of PR, media stuff, but nothing
caught me off-guard. We have to
accept the fact that there’s a lot of
media in the next few weeks, but
for sure it’s a dream come true.
Do you think your life will
change, or will it be back to the
routine?
RB: It’s going to be back to the
routine. We gotta prepare for
2021. We want to back this up
with another championship.
We’re going to take a couple of
weeks off, maybe a month. Then
we’re going to take it slowly at
first and then work the hardest
between August and Christmas.
As a team Honda did well this
year. That hasn’t been the
case in the past. What was the
difference?
RB: The difference this year
versus other years was we spent
a lot of time out here in the
Mojave, testing and developing
the bike. I think that’s a real big
part of it. The Japanese have
done a great job building this
motorcycle. I think the whole
team is real confident now with
the new specs.
In the past you said that you
and Johnny Campbell were like
a separate team within Honda.
Is it different now?
RB: In the past, we Americans
felt a little left out at the Bivouac,
but now we have a new team
manager. Rubin Faria and Helder
Rodriguez are former racers and
rally experts. Now, since the
Americans have picked up the
training program and started to
make a push toward the front,
they really respect us. It feels
really nice. It feels like family.
When fellow American Andrew
Short gave a wheel to Toby
Price, your primary competitor
at KTM, what was your initial
thought?
RB: When I heard about that, my
initial thought was ‘naw, Andrew
isn’t going to do that. They’re on
two different teams!’ That wasn’t
how it worked out, though. Toby
got the wheel and I thought, ‘oh
man, we’re still here racing. Toby’s
a real strong guy.’ He lost a little
time that day, but you never want
to count him out, whether he has a
couple of down times or not.
What was Saudi Arabia like?
How did they respond to your
tattoos and clothing?
RB: With my shorts and tattoos,
I was a little scared at first, but I
think they understood that our
culture isn’t like theirs. Still, we
didn’t go out in public that often.
Some guys had shorts in the
bivouac, and that wasn’t a really
big deal, but when we went out in
public, we tried to take care, wear
long pants and long sleeves–obey
the law and respect the culture.
On the days when you got the
map book just before the start,
was that difficult?
RB: When we got the map book
in the morning, no one had any
more time to study it than anyone
else. We had 25 minutes to load
it and look at it, and that’s really
a fair game. When people get the
map book the day before, there’s
a possibility that map guys can
make an overlay of the course.
Hopefully in the future we can
get it like that every morning.
That gives us more time to rest
in the evenings and it’s equal for
everybody and I really like that.
It’s the way I train.
You seemed like you always
had speed in reserve this year.
Is that new?
RB: Yes and no. We didn’t have
the best set up in the past and we
didn’t feel that confident. Now,
training with Jimmy Lewis and
having all the confidence in the
world that we can keep up with