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For only the second time in history, an American finished on the top step at the Dakar Rally. Both victories belong to Monster Energy Honda’s Ricky Brabec, who became the first U.S. rider to win the prestigious race in 2020.
This time around, the 32-year-old finished the nearly 5,000-mile, 12-stage course in 51 hours, 30 minutes, and eight seconds. Brabec’s Monster Energy Honda teammate Adrien Van Beveren joined him on the podium after finishing in third place, just 12 minutes and 25 seconds behind the winning time.
Between that Honda sandwich, Hero MotoCorp rider Ross Branch snagged a second-place finish, less than 11 minutes off Brabec’s pace. The runner-up result isn’t just Branch’s best Dakar performance, it also distinguishes Hero MotoCorp as the first Indian manufacturer to podium in the desert race.
The final standings weren’t without its disappointments, though. KTM, a perennial power in the annual event, had no answers for Honda’s dominance. The fastest Red Bull KTM machine, piloted by two-time Dakar-winner Kevin Benavides, finished more than 38 minutes behind the victor. Still, many KTM-supported riders crossed the final finish line. That wasn’t the case for all the riders.
The world’s toughest race
From sand dunes to rock-piled hillsides, the fifth Saudi-hosted Dakar offered its fair share of hazards. One such section was the site of a race-ending crash for Francisco José Gómez Pallas. Competing in the Mission 1000 (a class restricted to fully electric, fully hydrogen, and hybrid powerplants), the Venezuela-born racer rode a “100% handmade electric prototype” through some of the world’s most rugged terrain.
According to Pallas, his friend Joan Puid built the race machine “based on the geometries of leading motorcycles from the Dakar.” Needless to say, the design didn’t hold up to practical applications. As seen from the rally’s support helicopter, one moment Pallas is navigating a rock-strewn trail, the next, his bike splits in two beneath him.
The bisected motorcycle then catapults the rider over the handlebar before he and it tumble to a stop. Fortunately, Pallas was able to walk away from the scene, but the 11th-stage crash brought the rider’s seventh Dakar bid to an abrupt end. It’s worth acknowledging that not all crash victims are lucky enough to leave the Dakar with their lives.
On January 7, Spanish rider Carles Falcón crashed during the 463-kilometer (287-mile) second stage. He sustained fractures to his C2 vertebra, ribs, left wrist, and collarbone as a result. Medical responders resuscitated the injured Falcón on-site before airlifting him to the Al Duwadimi Hospital, where he remained in serious condition for eight days. On January 15, the TwinTrail Racing Team announced that Falcón passed away due to cerebral edema (brain swelling).
In an Instagram post, the team stated, "Carles was a smiling person, always active, who passionately enjoyed everything he did, especially motorcycles. He has left us doing something that was his dream, racing the Dakar.”
While Falcón’s death cast a pall over the bivouac and rally circles worldwide, the 46th Dakar Rally still showcased miraculous feats of engineering, riding skill, and competitive spirit. It’s that mix of danger and glory that keeps riders and fans coming back every year.
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