Ricky Brabec Kicks Off 2023 Dakar With Stage Win

Dakar 2023

 

There is a long way still to go but Ricky Brabec was happy to get his first stage win of 2023 under his belt. Photo: Rally Zone

Stage one of the 2023 Dakar Rally saw Ricky Brabec take the win ahead of Kevin Benavides and Mason Klein on a day where all team riders were in the spotlight.

Australian’s Toby Price and Daniel Sanders faired well with a strong start with Price finishing the stage fifth and Sanders sixth. It was a shocker for defending champion Sam Sunderland with the Brit crashing just 52 kilometers into stage one. Leading the special briefly before the incident, Sunderland was airlifted to hospital in Yanbu where he was diagnosed with a broken shoulder blade.

“Goal number one was not to open the stage,” Brabec said after his stage win. “I feel quite well and confident after today, but I will just try to go day by day, keep pace and stay in the Top 10. It’s going to be hard to be out of the lead – like we saw today – but we have to see how it goes until the rest day. Today was fairly simple, no stress, it was a great day!

Second placed Kevin Benavides who had posted the fifth-quickest time on the prologue attacked stage one right away from his 24th place start position. Placing eighth at the waypoint at kilometer 37, Benavides got his head down and steadily moved up through the order to ultimately finish in second place, a mere 44 seconds down on Brabec.

“I had a good day today – it’s always encouraging to start the rally with a strong result,” The 2021 Dakar winner said. “It felt like a very long day, but I think every day leading up to the rest day will be similar. I’m happy with my result, I came second, but less than a minute or so behind the stage winner. It doesn’t give me the best start position for tomorrow, but I’ll aim to chase down the guy ahead. Overall, I’m happy to get the rally underway and looking forward to the rest of the race.”

Following on from Saturday’s short 13-kilometer prologue, where Toby Price posted the fastest time to finish in first place, the Australian turned his attention to the event’s 603-kilometer opening stage. Testing competitors right from the off, the 368-kilometer timed special comprised a challenging mix of terrain, made up predominantly of gravels tracks, but with some sand and dunes thrown in to give riders a true taste of conditions at this 2023 event.

Placing fifth on the stage, Price was pleased with how his race got underway. After spotting the fallen Sam Sunderland early in the special, Price decided to aim for a solid, safe finish to the stage. Despite his care, the Aussie was still able to bring it home inside the top five and will enjoy a strong start position for Monday’s stage two.

“Stage one has gone ok for me,” Price said. “I saw Sam (Sunderland) had crashed out at around kilometer 70, and it’s never good to see one of your mates go down like that. After that, I just focused on my roadbook and made sure I didn’t make any big mistakes on the way to the finish. It’s a long race and we have a very long way to go. My goal right now is to say safe and consistent.”

He may have been away from racing for a while but Daniel Sanders’ performance gave everyone a pleasant reminder of just how talented the hard-charging Aussie really is. After placing second on yesterday’s Prologue – allowing him to choose his starting position for stage one – Sanders set off as the 25th rider and quickly settled into a fast and consistent pace. Confidently reaching each waypoint among the leaders, Daniel came home in sixth and now lies a provisional fifth in the overall classification.

“It’s been a long old year since I’ve raced and it was great to be back out there today,” Sanders said. “Early on I caught up to Kevin Benavides and for most of the stage we just rode together, clicking off the kilometers. I really enjoyed the terrain. It was my first proper stage on the new generation bike, so everything was quite new for me today and it was great to get a decent stage result in early. I’m so pumped to be back here at the Dakar and I’m looking forward to taking each day as it comes.”

Tomorrow the second stage from this year’s Dakar Rally will leave the Sea Camp in the direction of Al-Ula. This special stage will have 430 kilometers of closed tracks demanding great handling skills, so riders will get mainly dirt tracks (59%), stones (26%) and just a little taste of sand (14% sand tracks and one percent of dunes). Besides this competitive section, there is also another 159 kilometers of liaison. Navigation will be key as participants reach the splendid canyons and beautiful landscapes near the finish. According to the ASO organisation, the stage will be decided on the dunes, with some of the majestic Nabataean temples visible on the landscape.

Daniel Sanders admitted to being happy to be back in the race and after finishing sixth on stage one is looking forward to taking each day as it comes. 

Eli's Ready!

2022 WORLD VET CHAMPIONSHIP FLASHBACK

On Dec 31, 2022 Last updated Dec 31, 2022

 

The calm before the storm. The World Vet Championship featured a Friday practice day to help foreign and out-of-state riders get accustomed to Glen Helen’s unique conditions and learn the long track design that featured lap times between three minutes to four minutes depending on the rider’s skill level

THE IDEA: Over 38 years ago Tom White had the idea to host a race dedicated to riders over the age of 30. Think about that for a minute. The first Vet race was almost 40 years ago. To be eligible for that race, you had to be 30 years old. The riders who rode that first race would now be 68 years old. Amazingly, a large number of riders from year one showed up at year 38. 

Originally naming it the White Brothers World Vet Championship (because no other aftermarket company or manufacturer wanted to sponsor an event for old riders), Tom farmed sponsors from the ranks of the brands that the White Brothers distributing company carried. When Tom passed away from cancer in 2017, his daughter Kristin and son-in-law John Anderson tok the reins to sponsor the World Vet Championship through their Dubya USA wheel company.

 

The heavy hitters at Glen Helen were Jeremy McGrath (2) and Mike Brown (3). Both racers are over 50 years old, but both elected to race in the Over-40 Pro class and Over-50 Pasha 125 Pro class. Brown also raced the Over-30 Pro class and the Pasha Over-30 125 Pro class. He was a busy boy.

Check the rest of the story with great pictures at motocrossactionmag.com/2022-world-vet-flashback-time-flies-so-do-the-stars-of-the-past/

MXGP Teaser

Will Suzuki Be Roczen's Answer?

DAKAR 2023 PREVIEW

 

The 45th edition of the Dakar Rally starts tomorrow and Americans have become a serious threat to win. U.S. riders are also likely to have more riders in the top 10 than any other country. Ricky Brabec, Skyler Howes, Mason Klein and Jacob Argubright are the most high profile, but there are a total of 11 Americans this year. Kyle McCoy, Paul Neff, David Pearson, James Pearson and Morrison Hart joined forces on the American Rally Original team. All will compete in the “Original By Motul” class, formerly known as Malle Moto, where the riders receive little to no outside assistance.

The event will be held over 14 stages of racing with competitors covering a total distance of over 8500 kilometers along the way. Around 4700 of those kilometers will be raced against the clock in timed specials and single prologue qualifier. Following the first eight full stages, riders will enjoy a rest day in Riyadh before taking on the final six stages leading to the rally finish at Dammam on January 15.

There are several significant rules changes for 2023. A system of time bonuses is now in place to reward the bikers who “open the road” on each stage. The bonus sections are in place during the first 200km of the timed special stage. It will be possible for a rider to have a total of five minutes deducted from their daily time if they lead the way throughout the opening 200km. It’s a huge prize to aim for, but also comes with a massive amount of risk – with no tracks to follow the chances of getting lost is bound to increase.

For the rest of the story go to www.dirtbikemagazine.com

Marvin Spins Laps On KTM 300...two stroke

Herlings outlines goals for the rest of his Motocross career

Jeffrey Herlings has revealed that he would like to race a few more years in the MXGP World Championship and then end his racing career by racing a year of AMA Nationals. The five time world champion has been linked to racing the AMA Motocross season before but bar a one off race at Ironman he’s not raced a full championship. However, it’s something he’d like to do in his last year as a professional racer.

With Eli Tomac likely to focus on Supercross for the rest of his career, Herlings wouldn’t race him with he’d likely go up against the likes of Chase Sexton and the Lawrence Brothers.

Speaking to Geoff Meyer at MXLarge, Herlings said his ultimate goal is to finish his career racing in America.

“My ultimate goal would be to do a few more seasons here in Europe and then end my career racing a year in America. I would love to finish my career with one year of outdoors. It is a short series, and just one day and I am a big fan of that. It is a pity by then Eli (Tomac) will probably be finished racing, but at the same time there will be some new guys coming in”, Herlings told MXLarge. 

Herlings hasn’t had an easy time with injuries throughout his career missing the entire 2022 season through injury after his impressive 2021 world title but let’s hope he can stay injury free the next couple of years so fans around the world can enjoy the last few years of his career.

The 2023 season will also be Herlings last year on his current Factory KTM contract so he’ll be eager to get that extended to allow him to continue racing with the brand he’s been with his whole career. Being with KTM would also make it easier for him to end his career racing in America like what we saw with Antonio Cairoli this year.

You can read the full interview with Herlings in the link below as he discusses his injuries, progress – he’s now been back on the bike for a month and more.

Source: MXLarge

Image: Ray Archer

Hunter Talks Future with Vitalmx

Team Honda HRC's Hunter Lawrence talks with us about his off-season, cars, how his dad is still so involved in his and his brother's program, and his 450 transition plans.

Old School Style...Rodney Smith