Interview with Rally Legend Racer, Ricky Brabec

There’s always a great debate at garage work benches across the U.S. as to who the greatest American off-road racer of all-time is. Bench racers, some of whom compete in the eastern GNCCs and western WORCS races, are quick to drop the names Burleson, Roeseler and Hamel, the Smiths – Malcolm and Ty (no relation) – Summers and Caselli.

But if you were to tie in global opinion, particularly that of the Europeans, Monster Energy’s Ricky Brabec (Honda HRC Rally Team) would most definitely be up towards the top.

At the pinnacle of off-road racing is the famed Dakar Rally. Having begun in 1977, “Dakar” gets set to embark on its sixth adventure through Saudi Arabia this January – a grueling contest stretching some 8,000 kilometers with 5,000 Specials. It’s a race like no other. Not here in the States, not anywhere else. And not just heralded by the global off-road community, it’s also a prize coveted by each and every motorcycle manufacturer.

And Brabec is the only American racer to win Dakar on a motorcycle. And he’s done it twice.

Returning for his 10^th Dakar Rally, Brabec is the defending champion of the great race. Running the glowing green M-claw shod Honda CRF 450 Rally, the California native is coming off an abbreviated ’24 season, part of which allowed Honda to re-engineer its already invincible Rally bike for the 2025 model year. Brabec saw great highs on this year’s World Rally Raid Championship season (to which Dakar is the cornerstone event), winning, in addition to Dakar, the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally in Argentina.

With the highs last year also came a low point when, in October, Brabec had a hard landing due to a miscalculation off a sand dune jump and damaged his right knee. So that brings us to our discussion with Brabec, how he’s doing, how the preparation for next month’s Dakar is going and what his feeling are regarding defending his 2025 Dakar championship.

Monster Energy: RB, how’s the leg feeling?

Ricky Brabec: My knee and ligaments are 100-percent fine. It sucked that I couldn’t continue the rally (Rallye Du Maroc), but it’s small compared to having a whole knee replacement or ligament damage. 

ME: Take us back to the point of impact, at the Rallye Du Maroc in October. All systems were ‘Go,’ the Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team were there in full force, and full strength for yourself as you’d raced healthy all year. The field sets out for Stage 1 and BAM! – you go down. Take us back to what happened. 

RB: Yeah you know, racing motorcycles… this is just a piece of what comes with it. But that said, with no injuries, the team and myself were shaping up really well. Training was good. The bike was good. I was good, and then all of a sudden one small mistake turned into the injury I had, which was breaking my tibia plateau. I just jumped one (sand dune), not too crazy, not too big, coming down on the backside. I flat landed, but there was a mound of dirt on the hard ground. Kind of like similar to a shore or lake bed mound of dirt. And I wasn't expecting the impact to be this big - and was fully relaxed. But then, I basically framed this mound of dirt and my right leg was straight as a broomstick. 

ME: So that’s the second time, at Rallye Du Maroc, in two years that you wadded up on Stage 1 and were unable to complete the race. And we’re sure that absolutely sucked. What was going through your head when you actually kept riding, forgoing the Med-Vac flight, and got back to the bivouac? 

RB: Honestly? Yeah the last two rally Du Marocs have been a total bummer. This is my favorite round and last season, 2023, was just a mishap and nobody had control over. 2024 was just a mistake on my part and if I was over to the right one meter, I would've totally missed this mound of dirt and been OK. When this happened, I slowed down for a few moments, looked down and my leg was still straight, so I tried to push again. But I noticed the injury was a little bit more that I’d first thought. When I got back to the bivouac, I was hoping some physical therapy could work it out, and I could continue the next four days. But, the injury was more severe than just some tape could fix. 

ME: How long before you were on a flight back to the States in order to start the healing process? And what did the docs first say when you got home? 

RB: I flew home the very next morning, landed in Vegas, and took a Uber to the Vegas hospital and had surgery the next morning. The doctors told me this injury is typically a few months out, but being an active person, we got plated and screwed together and started recovery within three days of the initial time of incident. Recovery consisted of mobility with the leg right away and after two weeks, I was riding the bicycle and eating proper foods. I believe, five weeks after the incident, I was riding motorcycles and back to training. 

ME: October runs into November, and before you know it, we’re into Thanksgiving – then a couple weeks out from Christmas. Talk a bit more about how your rehab began, what you were doing at first, and where you’re at now with the recovery/rehab process. 

RB: At first, I was a little bit nervous with the injury just because it is so close to the Dakar. But being in high spirits after two weeks post-surgery, my hopes went way up. The doctor tried to tell me I should be walking by November 15^th, but I was walking before the end of October. 

ME: That’s awesome news. And this isn’t the first time you’ve been laid up with an injury. What are some tricks that you use, on yourself, so that you don’t get too depressed with the process?

RB: injuries and depression are tough. A lot of people get addicted to the medications, but I absolutely hate taking pain medication, so I steer away from that at all cost. In the hospital, they do sedate you for surgery and give you pain medicine and give you nerve blocker. But once I'm out of the hospital, I am staying away from all that stuff. I have friends close by and I think the day after I got out of the hospital, I was driving around hanging out. So I’m all about my every day just movement and blood flow after surgery. 

ME: So word on the street is you’ve been back on the Honda CRF 450 Rally. Been riding out in the desert a bit? How’s it feeling? 

RB: The word on the street is correct. I haven't been active on social media, but we have secretly been out there training and doing the normal routine to be prepared for the Dakar. At first, the knee and leg were weak since it was cast for a few weeks. But with proper strength training and plenty of hours on the motorcycle, we're back up and running at full speed and definitely looking forward to going back to the Dakar.

ME: And seeing as how we’re now on the cusp of Dakar, January 3-17, what are your thoughts of returning to the Saudi desert and 8,000 kilometers – some 5,000 of which in Specials – of racing from Bisha to Shubaytah in order to defend your 2024 Dakar title? 

RB: I’m really looking forward to heading back to Saudi desert. I really enjoy this desert. I enjoy the landscapes. I enjoy the teamwork and the friends along the way when you add those numbers up and specials and kilometers, it sounds like a lot talking one on one. But when you're in the action, it goes by almost in the blink of an eye. I mean, I feel like we were just there a couple weeks ago (laughter). The years are feeling shorter the older we get. 

ME: Awesome, RB. Thanks for getting us caught up and we look forward to following your hunt for your 3rd Dakar championship. 

RB: Thank you, guys. I'm looking forward to the new year and hoping to achieve my goals. Nothing is impossible and we will fight until the very end.