RACER PROFILE: RICKY BRABEC ON BECOMING A LEGEND

The Dakar Rally Interview

- Kyra Sacdalan

Ricky Brabec entered his first Dakar Rally at just 26 years old. Following a successful career competing in District 37, National Hare & Hound, Best in the Desert and SCORE International races, the rally rookie challenged the world in 2016, finishing 9th in the motorcycle category. The following year he took home his first Dakar stage win. But over the next two years, this young Californian was plagued by mechanical issues, even succumbing to a disheartening engine failure in the final stages of the 2019 Dakar Rally when victory was well within his grasp.

Brabec is persistent, though, and did not let these shortcomings weigh heavy on his shoulders. Instead, at 29, Brabec entered his fourth Dakar with 11-time Baja 1000 champion, Johnny Campbell, by his side, guiding Brabec through the trials and tribulations of contesting the world’s most difficult race.

But one needs more than persistence to take home the title of Dakar champion. Since its inception in 1978, no American has stood atop the podium. Many have tried, and only a few have succeeded in collecting stage wins—Jimmy Lewis and Jonah Street among them. So, for this young American to best the Saudi desert in his fourth attempt, among a field of world-class racers and his own trepidations, is astonishing.