Monster Honda’s Ricky Brabec has taken his maiden Dakar win today and broke KTM’s stranglehold on the event.

The American came home second on the final stage - shortened to 166km due to gas pipeline work - behind team-mate Jose Ignacio Cornejo.

Brabec has competed in five Dakar Rallies and the win this year makes up for the disappointment of 2019 when he retired from the lead.

"At the end, we put the pieces to the puzzle together. We couldn't do it without every rider in the team. I'm really happy. It's my fifth Dakar, my second time finishing… I woke up this morning just happy to ride the last day," said Brabec.

"And we're here. We won. We had to be smart and focused every day. There's no top guy on the team, we all work together, we're a family. We all won."

In the overall times, he finished 16’26s ahead of Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla in second place with KTM’s Toby Price completing the podium. Price has been a top-three competitor every time he has finished the race.

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