2025 AMBITIONS

J.A.: “After Dakar 2024 I flew back to the States, spent 12 hours at home, then raced the season's first National Hare and Hound event on a friend's bike! It had rained and I couldn't resist that lovely wet dirt in my home desert. I felt really good and even got a Top 10 overall. At last year's Dakar I rode the Honda, but I was pitted out of Duust and we were kind of working together. This year Honda are taking more responsibility, so I'll be supported by RSmoto. There's been more development with the bike and I'm excited about it. Last year I had no expectations, it was kind of a test, but I still really enjoyed it. I'm happy to ride the Honda again and it should be even better. Last year I had technical trouble on Stage 3, so I was one of the last guys to start the next day. I caught up to Konrad, who was having trouble - and since I was pretty much out of the competition, I stayed and helped him. We made sand angels and had a good time! I've been with Duust pretty much my whole FIM career: Abu Dhabi, Sonora, Dakar… so it'll be weird not to be with them in 2025. And Konrad is a good friend. On Stage 5 we were pretty much the last two finishers, but that gave us good motivation for the 48-hour Chrono on Stage 6. I started in front of Konrad and I didn't want him to catch me, so we had some fun with that. At that point I was going for stage finishes and trying to help him in the overall. In the end we both had a pretty good stage, inside the Top 20. I'm looking for a better performance this year, for sure. At your first Dakar you're like, 'This is crazy!', you're just in awe. My second one was more business. And now I'm like, this is just another race for me. I've held back a little bit in previous years. My first goal is to finish, but I'm looking for more performance. I definitely wanna send it!"