“I'd like to catch the eye”

Jacob Argubright could be one of the surprise packages in the bikes class at Dakar 2023. The 31-year-old American has been riding since the age of three and has starred in some of the biggest offroad events in the United States, winning the Best In The Desert, Vegas to Reno and the National Hare and Hound series. Having grown up racing against the likes of Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes in the US, Jacob is now preparing to take them on in a very different playground in Saudi Arabia. While he is confident he can match the top factory guys for speed, he knows he will need some time to get to grips with navigation. Shortly before heading to the Dakar he went to Nevada for roadbook training with American racing legend Jimmy Lewis, who has already worked with elite bikers like Brabec and Andrew Short. Jacob will be riding for the renowned Duust Rally team, having looked them up on Google and reached out to manager Filip Dabrowski a few years ago. He joined them for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in late 2021, taking an impressive second place in the Rally 2 class. After a busy year of fundraising, he is now hoping to follow in the footsteps of Howes and Mason Klein by impressing one of the factory teams. Jacob works as a web designer and developer to support his racing habits, but he is determined to see how far he can go in the world of rally-raid, saying he’d like to be in a position to win the Dakar in a few years. It’s certainly worth keeping an eye on biker number 96, who could be the latest star-spangled privateer to make a splash at the world's toughest rally.

“My parents were originally from Illinois but they came to California. My dad was racing locally, he got me into it and he’s followed me throughout my career. Basically, when I started passing him on speed, I took the reins! Growing up in Southern California, there’s a lot of possibilities for riding desert tracks. I grew up racing with guys like Ricky Brabec, I’ve done a lot of open desert. I used to battle with Ricky a lot. We were pretty much the same height, same build, same age. He lives like an hour and a half north of me. We’re friends but we’re all kind of doing our own thing. I’ve called Skyler Howes, I talked to Ricky, he loaned me an air vest last year at Abu Dhabi. Mason Klein’s been helping me with a bit of logistics, and Andy Short’s been a tremendous help too. As far as speed goes, I will confidently say I’m as fast as Ricky and Skyler. I’ve won Hare and Hound, I’ve won Vegas to Reno. But the navigation is where I fall short, it’s all new to me. I really like desert racing, so I really wanted to grow my career and go to the top stage. The Dakar is the pinnacle, and down the road I’d like to win it! This year I’m just going there and getting the experience, seeing what it’s all about. I’ve been doing rally-raid for about a year and I’m passionate about it. I’ve raced a lot of races, but this is a new skill. I was such a beginner at the start. It’s exciting to try something you’re not good at and see all the gains. I have a lot of drive to do well, and expectations of doing well. My first goal is to finish. And if I can do that, my second goal is to finish between fifth and 15th place. The idea is just to get the experience and make the rookie mistakes, hopefully as few as possible. I’d like to catch the eye.”