It isn’t just Audi that’s celebrating wins at the 2024 Dakar Rally this year—Honda has also emerged victorious from the dunes in the motorcycle category.
Honda Racing Corporation has made history with a win in Saudi Arabia, with now two-time Dakar Rally champion Ricky Brabec. He was joined in the podium by Monster Energy Honda teammate Adrien Van Beveren who finished in third.
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“After the last years and the difficulties I had, the crashes, all of that, overall, to be on the podium, finally on the podium of the Dakar, it tastes really good,” said Van Beveren. “I’ve been fighting until the end. We’ve finished third, but we were in the fight for victory. We are closer than ever to the dream. To step onto the podium is a step towards my dream of victory”
The Honda CRF450 Rally—the bike Honda competed with at Dakar—had a strong outing, with other Monster Energy Honda Team members Nacho Cornejo and Pablo Quintanilla finishing the rally in sixth and eleventh, respectively.
“It’s a nice way to start the year with a victory. It wasn’t easy as the course was really tough and so was the competition,” said Brabec. “Ross and my own team kept me on my toes, but not just me, I think we were keeping everyone on each other’s toes. It was definitely a fight to the end for everyone. I’m really happy we’re all here and all safe and we can go home. This time was a little bit different as I feel like this one was more earned as it was a lot tougher.
“I’m happy for all of us, we did an excellent job all of the two weeks.” he added. “I think number 9 will be my lucky number from now on.”
After a strong start to the year, Honda now has its sights set on its 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship campaign, as it shoots for its third straight title.
