A tough first stage saw defending Dakar champ Ricky Brabec withdraw after crashing. Brabec had an issue in the dunes leaving him to ride the remaining kilometers in considerable knee pain, eventually coming home in 11th over 19 minutes back. With potential damage to his knee ligaments, the American finished the stage and immediately went to hospital. This left Brabec little choice but to withdraw from the rally in order to focus on being 100% fit to defend his Dakar crown in January.
“It’s a little bit of a bummer, but you know it’s racing and it’s part of it,” said Brabec who was in contention for the World Championship title as well. “I caught Pablo Quintanilla early on and we were riding really well together, but as soon as we got to the dunes things took a turn for the worse. I jumped a dune but when I landed, I bottomed the frame out on one of the moguls that was on the other side. That meant the first thing that hit the ground was my right leg which absorbed all the energy in the landing.”
Although he finished the stage, just 20 minutes off the leader, the writing was on the wall. “For the remainder of the stage I had to take it easy. It’s a bummer I’m out as I’ve let the team down as I felt that this was the rally for me to shine, but Dakar is more important.”
