“It's a sprint every single day”
Crew facts
- Ricky Brabec is one of the most talented bike riders of his generation and a two-time Dakar champion (2020, 2024). The 34-year-old from California is lining up for his 11th Dakar this year.
- In 2025, Ricky finished third behind Daniel Sanders and Honda teammate Tosha Schareina in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), claiming podium finishes in Abu Dhabi, South Africa and Morocco.
- Six years ago, he became the first American to win the Dakar, just a few hours before Casey Currie and Sean Berriman also took victory in the SSV class.
- Born to bike racing parents, Ricky took up BMX at the age of five. He later tried motocross but soon realized he was best suited to desert racing. It no doubt helped growing up in Hesperia, which is surrounded by the Mojave Desert. After signing for THR Motorsports in 2011, Ricky decided to knuckle down and really focus on his riding career, partying less and training more. His investment soon began to pay off; in 2014, he won the San Felipe 250, Baja 500, Baja 1000 and Vegas to Reno.
- In early 2015, American offroad legend Quinn Cody called to ask if he would be interested in trying rally-raid. Ricky came fifth at his very first event, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which earned him a factory deal with Honda for Dakar 2016. He has been with the team ever since.
- In 2020, he became the first biker to win the Dakar on a Honda since Gilles Lalay in 1989, and then in 2024 the 13th biker to win multiple Dakar titles.
- His partner Sara Price will be competing in the new-look Stock class at Dakar 2026, with ambitious newcomers Defender. Back home, Ricky and Sara run private events at the Rip & Dip Ranch, a property they acquired in 2020, giving guests a taste of rally in a 'one-of-a-kind motorsports playground'.
Ambition
R.B.: “It's been a long year trying to recover from my leg injury before Dakar 2025. I broke my tibial plateau, which is right where your femur, tibia and fibula join together at the knee. I didn't get cleared to ride bikes until early December, so the training period for Dakar was really short. The leg wasn't 100% but I was still close, fighting for the podium. The biggest issue I had was when I smashed my exhaust pipe on the Chrono stage. From there on I was limited. The main goal was to finish and get home to rest my leg. I don't know how much more healing can be done. It'll never be 100% again, but at the last two W2RC rounds it didn't bother me at all. I was on the world championship podium, fighting all year, and I feel confident. I need to polish up a couple of areas to get to the level of Daniel and Tosha, but I'm in a much better position than last year. There's always room for improvement but the whole team is going in a good direction. The speed is not the scary part. Navigation plus speed is what's tricky. Daniel and Tosha have definitely figured it out. They're not going faster than I want to go, but they've found the solution to go as fast as they are, navigating as well as they are. We've been trying to find the right setup so we feel comfortable going at that speed. That's something I need to work on before Dakar, so I can be at the right level for the whole 15 days. We made some big improvements in Morocco, we're not far behind. My goal is to win, 100%. I've done it twice and it could definitely be done a third time. But the skill level now coming into rally is so high, you don't know who's going to win. The level just keeps evolving, to be better, faster, stronger. You can't really play games anymore. You miss one corner or make one navigation mistake and you're done for the day. It's a sprint every single day."
