Ricky Brabec took his third victory

Honda is attacking the 2025 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia again with a large squad. The team is one of the top favorites. At the last edition, Ricky Brabec secured his second overall victory. Another Honda driver, Adrien van Beveren, was on the podium in third place.

In the Rally Raid World Championship, the title went to hero driver Ross Branch, also because no Honda driver took part in all of the races. Van Beveren missed the last twelve points on Branch and finished second in the World Championship. But Honda won the brand world championship.

A year ago, Honda competed in Saudi Arabia with a completely new motorcycle. Over the course of the World Championship season, the CRF 450 Rally was further developed in detail. There is therefore great confidence that we can win the Dakar again with the strong driver squad.

In addition to Brabec and van Beveren, Honda is also sending top-class riders Tosha Schareina, Skyler Howes and Pablo Quintanilla into the race. On the other hand, competitor KTM only competes with three riders.

For defending champion Brabec, the recent preparation did not go well. At the Morocco Rally in October, the American fell in the first stage and had to give up. He had hit the right leg.

“My knees and ligaments are fine,” Brabec gives the all-clear. “That was the biggest concern after the fall. The only negative thing is that it has affected my training, but I can also do other things away from the bike.”

“It feels like this situation is actually better. Because sometimes we train so hard that you are already burnt out at the start of the Dakar.” In January, Brabec will tackle the Dakar for the tenth time.

Honda is again reaching for overall victory with five riders

Photo: Honda

He is the 13th driver to achieve more than one overall victory. If he wins this time too, he would be the eighth driver to win in a row. But this will not be an easy task.

“Getting your first win or a podium is not easy. People might say you were lucky. A second victory is not easy. “So it definitely won’t be easy to win a third time,” Brabec is aware.

“You have a big target on your shoulders and everyone is going to beat you. Of course, three wins would be incredible.” Brabec also has another goal for himself in the new year, as he will take part in all rounds of the Rally Raid World Championship.

Van Beveren will finally win

Van Beveren is also taking part in the Dakar for the tenth time. His first podium finish last year was a huge relief. Second place in the World Championship also showed the Frenchman’s good form.

“I am one of the drivers who is at the front of every rally,” van Beveren demonstrated self-confidence. “I’m reaching for the title. We have enough reasons to believe in it. We have further developed the motorcycle and I have built up a lot of trust in the CRF.”

The Frenchman will take overall victory after his first podium

Photo: Honda

“I have a history on clay, but now I’m fast on any terrain. Even on gravel, which wasn’t the case before. I like to take risks but always have a feeling of control. This suits the Honda very well. “

“It’s no secret that winning the Dakar is my goal. This dream helped me to keep going despite many setbacks. There were times when you could have given up faith. After my first podium everyone said that I did it right am made.”

“As everything that has happened to me in my career, reaching the finish line is like a victory. If you can look in the mirror at the end of the race and say that you gave it your all, then it was a successful Dakar.”

At the last edition, Honda fielded six riders. Ignacio “Nacho” Cornejo moved to Hero. The Honda line-up is therefore reduced to five drivers.

In this article

Gerald Dirnbeck

Dakar Rally

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