The Dakar Rally thrashes most riders both physically and mentally with its two-week-long grind. Day after day, it chips away at the strongest will, leaving all but the most determined athletes longing for rest.
But for guys like 2014 AMA Hare & Hound National Champion Ricky Brabec, it’s simply a warm-up for the coming season.
Okay, not really. The Johnny Campbell Racing Honda desert star admitted he was tired when he stepped off the plane last Monday night after his 14-hour, two-segment return flight from Argentina. All he had on his mind was falling into bed.
But the next day, he told his boss to get his CRF450X race bike prepped—he wanted to race the opening round of the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series down the road outside of Lucerne Valley, California.
“I was really not sure if I wanted to race or not and how badly my body was going to be beat [after Dakar],” he said after not just riding but winning the Desert Motorcycle Club’s 49th Annual Winter Classic. “I didn’t really tell Johnny I was racing until Tuesday.”
Of the transition between racing disciplines, he admitted, “I came out here [on Saturday] and rode the race bike [for the first time since returning from Dakar] and it was weird. It was really small for me [compared to the works CRF450 Rally]. Yesterday I kind of rode around all day and adjusted so that was good. Today, the race was awesome.”
It couldn’t have gone much better, as he led most of the way to finish comfortably in front of slow starting Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Jacob Argubright with another early leader, Purvines Racing Beta’s Nick Burson, settling for third, feeling unusually uncomfortable in the rocks in the debut of his 2016 race bike.
For defending series champ Ivan Ramirez, the day was the complete opposite of Brabec’s. He led at the bomb but got passed by Brabec and Yamaha-mounted privateer Skyler Howes on the following downhill. The FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team ace figured he’d settle into third and watch their lines for a while, but found himself going backwards instead fighting a case of arm pump.
“I was just feeling tight and not too confident so I was like, ‘Just relax and ride.’ I feel like it was a rough day for me. I haven’t felt that tight in a long time,” he admitted. “I just wanted to keep it on two wheels and ride smart.” Ramirez eventually finished seventh.
Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey held a solitary fourth for much of the race followed by LG Electric Yamaha-mounted Ryan Smith, Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Yamaha’s Justin Morgan, Ramirez, Vet A winner Morgan Crawford, FMF Pro 250 winner Nick Stover and Purvines Racing Beta’s Axel Pearson.
