What a difference a day makes. Defending Dakar Rally Champ Ricky Brabec finished Stage 3 in P2 followed closely by fellow American teammate Skyler Howes. Today the two top Americans finished 12 and 13, some 20 minutes off the pace! “Ricky and Skyler had a difficult role today which was opening the stage,” says Monster Energy Honda HRC Rally Team Manager Ruben Faria. “Ricky did really well until 80 kilometers from the finish when a navigation error caused him to lose some valuable time.”
The ups and downs of rally-raids were a reminder to Ricky Brabec today as he opened the way from just three kilometers into the stage meaning it was a long day out front for the 2024 Dakar Rally winner and but for a mistake with just 15 kilometers remaining, it saw him unfortunately lose nearly twenty minutes. Although remaining upbeat and happy to get to the end of the marathon stage he is now 29’13” off the overall leader in fifth. Setting off in 17th position to complete the marathon stage tomorrow, he will look to gain the upper hand of a later start slot to win back some precious minutes.
The good news is both riders remain in striking distance going into the Marathon Stage. Howes sits in 4th overall, Brabec just behind him in 5th.
Upon arrival at AlUla the riders had just 30 minutes to work on their bikes before they were tucked away in Parc Fermé for the night when the marathon stage will resume as the route heads east to Ha’il on a 428km special stage. After what has been a very long week after the 48 Hour Chrono and this marathon stage, the riders will be able to relax with the rest day on Friday and enable the Monster Energy Honda HRC to give the Honda CRF450 RALLY a full service.
