Today, Rally Dakar 2021 finally began with a 345km liaison and a 277km special stage from Jeddah to Bisha with Toby Price winning the stage and Ricky Brabec coming in 24th, fourteen minutes and thirteen seconds behind Price. Brabec and teammate Joan Barreda both got lost on the tracks costing Team Honda some significant time; according to Brabec, navigation was especially complex on this stage, and opening up the track on the very first day didn’t help. “Difficult day after attempting to lead out on this one. Navigation was super tricky and not a day to start up in the front. Looking forward to tomorrow’s stage as it’s only just begun,” Brabec posted after crossing the finish line.

“At the end of the day, I’m still the same Ricky Brabec. All that’s changed after the Dakar 2020 win is the number on my motorcycle; I’m not going too crazy. I’m not better than anyone else, there are some really good riders and some really good navigators out here, and I just want to ride my motorcycle and have fun. We all have good days and bad days, we’re all human, we all make mistakes…but would I like to win another Dakar? For sure,” he said in an interview with the Dakar media earlier.

Brabec wasn’t the only one struggling with navigation today: Ross Branch, the Dakar 2020 stage winner, said it was one of the hardest days for him in terms of figuring out roadbook, too. “It was really difficult today. The navigation was tough, I think one of the toughest days in navigation I’ve ever had in rallies. I managed to catch up to the Honda guys and just try and stay with them because all of us seemed to be making navigational errors. I was trying to just do the best I possibly could, it was really difficult at the front for us five, but it’s all a learning lesson,” Branch commented after the finish.

The standings of today seem much different than expected, but Dakar 2021 has only just begun, and there may still be some more surprises along the way:

POS.	N°	EXP.	DRIVE-TEAM	MARK-MODEL	TIME	VARIATION	PENALITY
1	3		(AUS) TOBY PRICE	RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM	03H 18′ 26”
2	47		(ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	03H 18′ 57”	+ 00H 00′ 31”
3	52		(AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNER	RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM	03H 18′ 58”	+ 00H 00′ 32”
4	5		(GBR) SAM SUNDERLAND	RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM	03H 20′ 29”	+ 00 h 02年03”
5	15		(ESP) LORENZO SANTOLINO	SHERCO FACTORY	03H 22′ 49”	+ 00H 04′ 23”
6	12		(FRA) XAVIER DE SOULTRAIT	HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING	03H 23′ 01”	+ 00H 04′ 35”
7	6		(ARG) FRANCO CAIMI	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	03H 23′ 14”	+ 00H 04′ 48”
8	9		(USA) SKYLER HOWES	BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM	03H 23′ 51”	+ 00H 05′ 25”
9	77		(ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES	ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING	03H 26′ 03”	+ 00H 07′ 37”	00H 01′ 00”
10	31		(CZE) MARTIN MICHEK	ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP	03H 26′ 36”	+ 00H 08′ 10”
11	87		(ESP) ORIOL MENA	FN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM	03H 26′ 55”	+ 00H 08′ 29”
12	7		(USA) ANDREW SHORT	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	03H 27′ 16”	+ 00H 08′ 50”
13	42		(FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	03H 28′ 01”	+ 00H 09′ 35”
14	11		(SVK) STEFAN SVITKO	SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM	03H 28′ 05”	+ 00H 09′ 39”
15	18		(BWA) ROSS BRANCH	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	03H 28′ 13”	+ 00H 09′ 47”
16	4		(CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	03H 30′ 50”	+ 00H 12′ 24”
17	17		(ESP) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIA	FN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM	03H 31′ 03”	+ 00H 12′ 37”
18	22		(POL) MACIEJ GIEMZA	ORLEN TEAM	03H 31′ 39”	+ 00H 13′ 13”
19	68		(GBR) JAMIE MCCANNEY	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	03H 33′ 10”	+ 00H 14′ 44”
20	2		(CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA	ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING	03H 33′ 56”	+ 00H 15′ 30”
21	20		(POL) ADAM TOMICZEK	ORLEN TEAM	03H 33′ 56”	+ 00H 15′ 30”
22	88		(ESP) JOAN BARREDA BORT	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	03H 34′ 05”	+ 00H 15′ 39”
23	27		(PRT) JOAQUIM RODRIGUES	HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY	03H 34′ 53”	16 + 00 h 27日”
24	1		(USA) RICKY BRABEC	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	03H 36′ 58”	+ 00H 18′ 32”
25	21		(AUS) DANIEL SANDERS	KTM FACTORY TEAM	03H 38′ 17”	+ 00H 19′ 51”	00H 07′ 00”
26	32		(ESP) TOSHA SCHAREINA	FN SPEED – KTM TEAM	03H 43′ 32”	+ 00H 25′ 06”
27	19		(PRT) RUI GONCALVES	SHERCO FACTORY	03H 45′ 07”	+ 00H 26′ 41”
28	36		(CZE) JAN BRABEC	STROJRENT RACING	03H 45′ 36”	+ 00H 27′ 10”
29	24		(DEU) SEBASTIAN BÜHLER	HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY	03H 50′ 20”	+ 00H 31′ 54”
30	26		(CZE) MILAN ENGEL	ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP	03H 53′ 36”	35 + 00 h 10”

Images: Dakar.com