Ricky Brabec (born 21 April 1991) is an American professional off-road and rally raid motorcycle racer. He is prominent for being the first American competitor to win the motorcycle division of the Dakar Rally in 2020. He won the Dakar again in 2024.
Brabec was born in San Bernardino, California and started BMX when he was five years old. When he was 15, he and his family moved to the desert city of Hesperia, California. First trying motocross, Brabec began desert racing in 2011. [1]
In 2014, Brabec won the Baja 1000, Baja 500 and San Felipe 250. He was fifth in the bike category at Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2015. In 2016, he was sixth at Merzouga Rally and seventh at Atacama Rally in the bike category. [2]
He made his Dakar Rally debut in 2016 and finished in 9th. In 2017, he won his first stage, but failed to finish the race. In 2018, he was running in 6th place when he was forced out of the race. It was the second time in his career that he retired from a race. In 2019, he retired for the third consecutive year. [2] In 2020, he won the bike category and two stages. [3]
Brabec also represented the United States at three International Six Days Enduro events. [4] The International Six Days Enduro is a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics that is the oldest annual competition sanctioned by the FIM, dating back to 1913. [5]
| Year | Bike | Rank | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Honda | 9th | 0 |
| 2017 | Honda | DNF | 1 |
| 2018 | Honda | DNF | 0 |
| 2019 | Honda | DNF | 1 |
| 2020 | Honda | 1st | 2 |
| 2021 | Honda | 2nd | 3 |
| 2022 | Honda | 7th | 0 |
| 2023 | Honda | DNF | 1 |
| 2024 | Honda | 1st | 1 |
2014 2014 2014 2020
2017 2018
The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally", is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The rally is an off-road endurance event. The terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher than that used in conventional rallying, and the vehicles used are typically true off-road vehicles and motorcycles, rather than modified on-road vehicles. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, and erg among others. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day. The rough terrain, driver fatigue, and lack of skill usually results in accidents and serious injuries.
Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is a time-card enduro, whereby a number of stages are raced in a time trial against the clock.
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