Honda is once again competing in Saudi Arabia with five drivers and is one of the top favorites – Ricky Brabec and Adrien van Beveren are the spearheads
Honda will be back in Saudi Arabia with a large team for the 2025 Dakar Rally. The team is one of the top favorites. In the last edition, Ricky Brabec secured his second overall victory. With Adrien van Beveren, another Honda driver took third place on the podium.
In the rally raid world championship, the title went to Hero rider Ross Branch, partly because no Honda rider contested all the races. Van Beveren ultimately finished twelve points behind Branch to take second place in the world championship. However, Honda won the manufacturers’ world championship.
A year ago, Honda competed in Saudi Arabia with a completely new motorcycle. During the course of the World Championship season, the CRF 450 Rally was further developed in details. There is therefore great confidence that the strong team of riders will be able to win the Dakar again.
In addition to Brabec and van Beveren, Honda is also sending top riders Tosha Schareina, Skyler Howes and Pablo Quintanilla into the race. On the other hand, competitor KTM is only entering three riders.
For title defender Brabec, the most recent preparation did not go well. At the Morocco Rally in October, the American crashed on the first stage and had to give up. He had injured his right leg.
“My knee and ligaments are fine,” Brabec says, giving the all-clear. ”That was the biggest concern after the crash. The only negative thing is that it affected my training, but I can do other things besides riding motorbikes.”
“It feels like this situation is actually better. Because sometimes we train so hard that we’re already burnt out by the start of the Dakar.” In January, Brabec will tackle the Dakar for the tenth time.
He is the 13th driver to win more than once overall. If he wins again this time, he would be the eighth driver to win in a row. But it won’t be an easy task.
“Getting the first victory or a podium is not easy. People might say that you were lucky. A second victory is not easy. So it will definitely not be easy to win a third time,” Brabec is aware.
“You have a big goal on your shoulders and everyone wants to beat you. Three wins would be incredible, of course.” Brabec also has another goal for the new year: he wants to compete in all rounds of the World Rally Raid Championship.
Van Beveren finally wants to win
Van Beveren is also competing in the Dakar for the tenth time. His first podium finish last year was a huge relief. Second place in the World Championship also showed the Frenchman’s good form.
“I’m one of the riders who is at the front of the pack in every rally,” says van Beveren confidently. “I’m going for the title. We have enough reasons to believe in it. We have further developed the bike and I have built up a lot of trust in the CRF.“
”I have a history on sand, but now I am fast on any terrain. Also on gravel, which was not the case in the past. I like to take risks, but always feel in control. This suits the Honda very well.”
“It’s no secret that winning the Dakar is my goal. This dream has helped me to keep going despite many setbacks. There were times when you could have lost faith. After my first podium, everyone said that I did it right.”
“Given everything that’s happened to me in my career, just finishing is like winning. If you can look in the mirror at the end of the race and say you gave it your all, then it was a successful Dakar.”
In the last edition, Honda fielded six riders. Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Cornejo switched to Hero. This means the Honda line-up has been reduced to five riders.
