Brabec says ‘quite confusing note’ led to heartbreaking Dakar loss
Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Ricky Brabec lost the motorcycle class victory to Red Bull KTM's Luciano Benavides by a heartbreaking two seconds in the closest finish in Dakar Rally history. Afterward, the American explained how momentary confusion over the route near the end of the final stage proved a decisive blow. Heading into the final stage of this year’s event, Brabec held a 3m20s advantage over Benavides, after claiming the previous day’s stage win. With just 105 km/65 miles of timed competition remaining, Brabec knew that opening the stage would leave him without tracks to follow, placing a premium on precise navigation as he chased a third Dakar title.
The final special stage featured two timed sections separated by a liaison, with riders first tackling technical mountain valley tracks before switching to a faster route along the Red Sea coastline en route to the finish line at the Yanbu bivouac. Brabec set a strong pace early, but a navigation issue just seven kilometers from the finish cost him valuable time, ultimately denying him the coveted Bedouin Trophy.
"This Dakar was a real fight from start to finish," said Brabec. "On the final stage, a quite confusing note led me to choose a line that wasn’t the correct one. When I turned back, Luciano was coming behind me and, seeing the situation, he stayed on the right track, which made the difference in such a close battle.
It was a dramatic conclusion to 49 hours and 41 seconds of racing across 4,737 km/2,943 miles of the Saudi Arabian desert.
"The last day of Dakar 2026 didn’t bring the result we were expecting, but this is Dakar – this is rally raid," said team general manager Ruben Faria of the bittersweet runner-up finish. "Six kilometers from the end of the final stage, Ricky turned left slightly too early. He didn’t take the correct track, lost a significant amount of time, and crossed the finish line just two seconds behind Luciano.
"Going into today, Ricky had a good margin thanks to the time bonuses – a gap of four minutes and 42 seconds over second place. With that small mistake, we lost the Dakar by just two seconds. Of course, we wanted more. We wanted to win, but we have to accept the result.
"Overall, it was still a strong performance for the team: Ricky finished second, Tosha (Schareina) third, Skyler (Howes) fourth, and Adrien (Van Beveren) sixth. Ricky delivered a very solid Dakar. Tosha made a mistake in the first week but still managed to finish with a strong overall result. Skyler struggled during the first week but recovered well in the second. Adrien lost almost an hour when a cable that was in the middle of nowhere got stuck in his wheel, yet he had an excellent second week.
"Naturally, we expected more – the goal was to win, and we finished incredibly close. This has never happened before. We’ll keep pushing, aim to win the next races, and come back even stronger for the next Dakar."