Ricky Brabec continues his Dakar 2020 crusade with another stage triumph, the second of this edition, consolidating his leadership as the new Dakar arrives at it's rest day in the capital Riyadh.
While Brabec took the stage victory ahead of team-mate
Joan Barreda and
Matthias Walkner, it was a tough day for Australian
Toby Price who had mechanical problems with a blown tyre and lost 16 minutes which saw him drop from second to third in the overall rankings. Price got going again after
Andrew Short gave him his rear tyre. Short finishing the stage on his rim! The biggest loser for the stage was Honda's
Kevin Benavides who had an engine drama and lost three hours.
The sixth stage started from Ha‰Ûªil bound for Riyadh, with 478 kilometres of special stage against the clock out of a total distance of 830 kilometres, which gave competitors the ideal opportunity to unleash their machines on the open Saudi desert. The final day of the first week of racing saw riders face arduous navigation, off-piste and copious amounts of sand and dunes.
It was all smiles from for Brabec as the Monster Energy Honda Team rider rode into Riyadh after the longest pre-rest day special of the 2020 Dakar Rally. The American will be able to rest and recuperate before heading back out aboard the Honda CRF450 RALLY to defend his overall leadership in the second and final week of the competition.
"The day was good. I didn‰Ûªt really have a strategy," Brabec explained. "I wanted to catch Andrew Short who started in front of me and I did just that. I rode with him all day. It was very unfortunate for Toby because he had a wheel mishap at maybe kilometre 330. I rode to the end and now we have a rest day and I have a 20-minute lead in the general and that‰Ûªs really awesome. It‰Ûªs really nice knowing that. I can‰Ûªt really believe it. It‰Ûªs incredible.
"So now we are going to get some rest and recoup and refresh and get ourselves together ready for the next six days in Saudi Arabia. I‰Ûªm more excited that we are here in warm weather than I am at being here for the rest day. I hate being cold. I have three layers on right now but it‰Ûªs warmer and I‰Ûªm liking it. Nacho‰Ûªs riding really well. He‰Ûªs a great team-mate and a great-camper mate. The problem with Toby is going to set him on fire next week, so we have to be careful next week. Hopefully we can stay ahead of him. I won the stage today so I have to lead out. Hopefully I can lead out well. So we will rest and put our things together and hope for a good day."
