Sadly, no Canadians raced the Dakar Rally moto category this year, but our neighbours to the south have good reason to be proud of their own country’s effort. American rider Ricky Brabec sealed the deal on his second Dakar Rally championship.
Brabec raced smart, waiting for much of the fast-guy competition to crash and burn in the early stages. The Honda rider waited until rest day to really start pressing hard, and from then on, he was the safe bet to win.
Ross Branch was second overall this year, riding a Hero factory machine to its first-ever podium. It’s a big accomplishment for the team, which grew out of the old Speedbrain organization (which went to work with Hero after Honda split off to do its own thing). Branch is getting older (he’s 37 now) and has limited time to challenge for the overall win; however, he’s increasingly becoming a fan favorite due to his positive attitude and his willingness to help other riders. Let’s hope he stays in this race for years to come. Racing is often a game of focused, robot-like concentration, and to have a rider who’s honest about his own shortcomings and obviously in it for the sheer thrill of speed is great to see.
Adrien Van Beveren took third. Hard as it is to believe, this is the best the French rider has ever done. His days with Yamaha were filled with crashes or breakdowns, and now that he’s with Honda, his luck seems to have improved (although he still took a ride down the highway to the danger zone, colliding with a pack of camels on Stage 11). AVB rides to win, every single stage, and that’s his biggest obstacle to overcome at this stage of his career.
KTM’s factory team had an off year, with Kevin Benavides winning Stage 12 to wiggle up the standings to fourth overall, with teammate Toby Price behind him. It’s a bit of a bummer to see Price’s drop in speed over the past couple of years; he had a blistering pace in his younger years, and was the last true alien rider at Dakar, capable of opening a stage and also setting the best time while doing all the work of navigation. There’s considerable rumor that Price will leave the bike category in 2025 and move to a four-wheeled vehicle. He has raced trophy trucks in the past (he actually owns one), so such a move is not unthinkable.
Speaking of racers moving from two to four wheels: ex-Yamaha rider Xavier de Soultrait won the SSV category, despite a massive time penalty at the last minute. And in the cars overall ranking, Laia Sanz, aka the Queen of the Desert, finished 15th.
It’ll be tough for anyone to ever replace Sanz’ record as Dakar’s top female rider, year after year, but Jane Daniels’ results for the Fantic factory team have some people suggesting she’s the heir apparent. In her first year at Dakar (and really, her first year of proper rally raid), Daniels finished 48th overall. Can she match up to Sanz’ record? Probably not—no other female motorcyclist is likely to, as Sanz dominated women’s trials competition for years and was also successful in enduro. But if Daniels continues to race Dakar, she will probably be the premier female rider of this generation, based on her grit and talent we saw this year.
Finally: For the first half of the race, the most-talked-about factory team wasn’t Honda or KTM or Husqvarna or any other established marque. It was Chinese manufacturer Kove, with American Mason Klein on a satellite bike. Klein had a mechanical take him out of the race mid-way, and crashes and breakdowns left Kove with only one rider crossing the finish line outside the “Dakar Experience” category… and one Italian rider, who was representing that country’s importer.
In other words: Not as good a result as last year, when Kove had three factory riders run the race start-to-finish. But they are determined to climb the standings, and with a whole year to test their latest-gen rally raid bike, we expect to see them challenge hard in 2025, giving the fans a lot to talk about.
Final Standings Of 2024 Dakar Rally
POS. | N° | DRIVE-TEAM | TEAM | TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 |
(USA) RICKY BRABEC
|
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 51H 30′ 08” |
2 | 46 |
(BWA) ROSS BRANCH
|
HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 51H 41′ 01” |
3 | 42 |
(FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN
|
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 51H 42′ 33” |
4 | 47 |
(ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES
|
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 52H 08′ 56” |
5 | 2 |
(AUS) TOBY PRICE
|
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 52H 15′ 36” |
6 | 11 | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 52H 16′ 46” | |
7 | 1 |
(ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES
|
HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING | 52H 23′ 39” |
8 | 5 |
(AUS) DANIEL SANDERS
|
RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING | 52H 44′ 40” |
9 | 142 |
(SVK) STEFAN SVITKO
|
SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 53H 26′ 36” |
10 | 23 |
(CZE) MARTIN MICHEK
|
ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 54H 18′ 57” |
11 | 20 |
(IND) HARITH NOAH
|
SHERCO TVS RALLY FACTORY | 54H 24′ 44” |
12 | 16 |
(FRA) ROMAIN DUMONTIER
|
TEAM DUMONTIER RACING | 54H 29′ 41” |
13 | 18 |
(ZAF) BRADLEY COX
|
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | 54H 31′ 12” |
14 | 76 |
(FRA) JEANLOUP LEPAN
|
DUUST RALLY TEAM | 54H 43′ 07” |
15 | 24 |
(SVN) TONI MULEC
|
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | 54H 53′ 29” |
16 | 28 |
(FRA) MATHIEU DOVEZE
|
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | 54H 56′ 38” |
17 | 7 |
(CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA
|
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 57H 06′ 47” |
18 | 30 |
(PRT) ANTONIO MAIO
|
DRAG’ON RALLY TEAM | 57H 48′ 33” |
19 | 41 |
(ARG) DIEGO GAMALIEL LLANOS
|
XRAIDS EXPERIENCE | 57H 58′ 46” |
20 | 96 |
(AUT) TOBIAS EBSTER
|
KINI RALLY RACING TEAM | 58H 17′ 00” |
21 | 73 |
(ZAF) CHARAN MOORE
|
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 58H 35′ 08” |
22 | 43 |
(CZE) MILAN ENGEL
|
ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 58H 56′ 58” |
23 | 34 |
(ROU) EMANUEL GYENES
|
AUTONET MOTORCYCLE TEAM | 59H 02′ 11” |
24 | 26 |
(POL) KONRAD DABROWSKI
|
DUUST RALLY TEAM | 59H 30′ 02” |
25 | 37 |
(BEL) JEROME MARTINY
|
ANQUETY MOTORSPORT | 60H 22′ 22” |
26 | 39 |
(FRA) BENJAMIN MELOT
|
TEAM ESPRIT KTM | 60H 34′ 20” |
27 | 33 |
(CZE) JAN BRABEC
|
STROJRENT RACING | 61H 00′ 08” |
28 | 140 |
(PRT) BRUNO SANTOS
|
XRAIDS EXPERIENCE | 61H 12′ 16” |
29 | 36 |
(PRT) MARIO PATRAO
|
CRÉDITO AGRÍCOLA – MARIOPATRAO.COM | 61H 22′ 55” |
30 | 86 |
(FRA) CHARLIE HERBST
|
TEAM ALL TRACKS | 62H 45′ 13” |
31 | 62 |
(FRA) JEREMY MIROIR
|
FANTIC RACING | 62H 52′ 59” |
32 | 103 |
(ZWE) ASHLEY THIXTON
|
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 63H 21′ 19” |
33 | 106 |
(FRA) JEROME BAS
|
UNIVERSAL RIDE | 63H 57′ 58” |
34 | 174 |
(ARG) MANUEL ANDUJAR
|
7240 TEAM / DRAGON RALLY SERVICE | 64H 16′ 53” |
35 | 82 |
(ESP) ALBERT MARTIN GARCIA
|
PEDREGA TEAM | 64H 21′ 17” |
36 | 172 |
(FRA) ALEXANDRE GIROUD
|
YAMAHA RACING – SMX – DRAG’ON | 64H 24′ 52” |
37 | 115 |
(ESP) JOSEP PEDRO SUBIRATS
|
ALL1 TEAM | 65H 32′ 59” |
38 | 105 |
(FRA) JULIEN DALBEC
|
NOMADE RACING | 65H 40′ 32” |
39 | 148 |
(CHL) TOMAS DE GAVARDO
|
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | 66H 15′ 13” |
40 | 99 |
(ARG) JUAN SANTIAGO ROSTAN
|
XRAIDS EXPERIENCE | 66H 21′ 17” |
41 | 53 |
(DNK) THOMAS KONGSHOJ
|
JOYRIDE RACE SERVICE | 67H 16′ 55” |
42 | 61 |
(CZE) DAVID PABISKA
|
SP MOTO BOHEMIA | 67H 21′ 38” |
43 | 101 |
(CZE) MARTIN PROKES
|
ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 67H 21′ 52” |
44 | 147 |
(FRA) MATHIEU GIRARD
|
NOMADE RACING | 67H 53′ 45” |
45 | 97 |
(ECU) JUAN PUGA
|
JP1 KEWS DAKAR RALLY TEAM | 68H 13′ 21” |
46 | 171 |
(SVK) JURAJ VARGA
|
VARGA MOTORSPORT TEAM | 68H 20′ 18” |
47 | 112 |
(ITA) GIOELE MEONI
|
DAKAR 4 DAKAR | 68H 52′ 40” |
48 | 110 |
(GBR) JANE DANIELS
|
FANTIC RACING | 69H 45′ 02” |
49 | 93 |
(GBR) DAVID MCBRIDE
|
VENDETTA RACING UAE | 69H 57′ 42” |
50 | 81 |
(CHN) FANG XIANGLIANG
|
KOVE | 70H 03′ 55” |
51 | 104 |
(FRA) JEREMIE GERBER
|
TLDRACING | 70H 12′ 19” |
52 | 170 |
(LTU) LAISVYDAS KANCIUS
|
STORY RACING | 71H 30′ 38” |
53 | 87 |
(CZE) LIBOR PODMOL
|
PODMOL DAKAR TEAM | 71H 37′ 07” |
54 | 117 |
(ESP) JOSEP MARTI SUÑER
|
ALL1 TEAM | 72H 01′ 24” |
55 | 75 |
(CHN) ZHANG MIN
|
ZERO MILEAGE RALLY TEAM | 73H 13′ 01” |
56 | 102 |
(POL) BARTLOMIEJ TABIN
|
ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 73H 18′ 11” |
57 | 120 |
(BEL) JORIS VAN DYCK
|
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 74H 28′ 50” |
58 | 94 |
(IRL) ORAN O’KELLY
|
VENDETTA RACING UAE | 75H 07′ 28” |
59 | 65 |
(FRA) GUILLAUME CHOLLET
|
GUILLAUME CHOLLET | 76H 18′ 17” |
60 | 66 |
(JPN) YOSHIO IKEMACHI
|
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | 76H 21′ 48” |
61 | 127 |
(ZAF) RONALD VENTER
|
NOMADE EXPERT MINING SOLUTION | 77H 02′ 24” |
62 | 100 |
(ZAF) STUART GREGORY
|
STUART GREGORY | 77H 12′ 48” |
63 | 32 |
(USA) KYLE MC COY
|
AMERICAN RALLY ORIGINALS | 78H 09′ 34” |
64 | 80 |
(PRT) ALEXANDRE AZINHAIS
|
CLUB AVENTURA TOUAREG | 78H 24′ 10” |
65 | 83 |
(FRA) FABIEN DOMAS
|
NOMADE RACING | 78H 32′ 34” |
66 | 64 |
(FRA) ROMAIN DUCHENE
|
TEAM GP MOTORS | 78H 35′ 57” |
67 | 138 |
(BEL) PIERRE SAEYS
|
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 78H 42′ 08” |
68 | 132 |
(FRA) ANDY BEAUCOUD
|
TEAM RAF | 78H 44′ 25” |
69 | 131 |
(FRA) ANTHONY FABRE
|
TEAM RAF | 78H 49′ 55” |
70 | 119 |
(ESP) JAVIER AMAT DE CARALT
|
ALL1 TEAM | 79H 03′ 17” |
71 | 90 |
(FRA) LOIS D’ABBADIE
|
NOMADE RACING | 79H 09′ 30” |
72 | 84 |
(ITA) TIZIANO INTERNO
|
RALLY POV | 79H 28′ 17” |
73 | 114 |
(ESP) CARLOS LLIBRE BELTRI
|
ALL1 TEAM | 81H 05′ 20” |
74 | 113 |
(ARG) SEBASTIAN ALBERTO URQUIA
|
XRAIDS EXPERIENCE | 81H 19′ 36” |
75 | 141 |
(FRA) VINCENT BIAU
|
VB X KRAY&CO | 81H 53′ 57” |
76 | 136 |
(USA) WESTON CARR
|
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 82H 02′ 46” |
77 | 128 |
(FRA) MAX BIANUCCI
|
MAX BIANUCCI NOMADE RACING | 82H 08′ 43” |
78 | 38 |
(ESP) EDUARDO IGLESIAS SANCHEZ
|
TEAM BENERGY MONFORTE RALLY – GALICIA CA | 83H 40′ 29” |
79 | 145 |
(MNG) GANZORIG CHULUUN
|
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 84H 11′ 19” |
80 | 85 |
(FRA) THIERRY BETHYS
|
TBRACING | 86H 20′ 49” |
81 | 107 |
(GRC) VASILEIOS BOUDROS
|
DNA AIR FILTERS- ENDURO GREECE | 91H 44′ 37” |
82 | 49 |
(ITA) CESARE ZACCHETTI
|
KOVE ITALIA | 91H 58′ 40” |
83 | 129 |
(FRA) SÉBASTIEN HERBET
|
TEAM DUMONTIER RACING | 92H 15′ 27” |
84 | 67 | XRAIDS EXPERIENCE | 93H 35′ 20” | |
85 | 40 |
(ESP) JAVI VEGA
|
PONT GRUP – YAMAHA | 97H 06′ 13” |
86 | 126 |
(ESP) MARIO GARRIDO
|
PEDREGA TEAM | 99H 34′ 34” |
87 | 122 |
(SAU) ABDULHALIM ALMOGHEERA
|
HALEEM | 102H 39′ 52” |
88 | 51 |
(ESP) RACHID AL-LAL LAHADIL
|
MELILLA CIUDAD DEL DEPORTE | 103H 16′ 18” |
89 | 143 |
(MEX) HECTOR GUERRERO
|
PEDREGA TEAM | 104H 10′ 20” |
90 | 21 |
(USA) JACOB ARGUBRIGHT
|
DUUST RALLY TEAM | 106H 55′ 18” |
91 | 79 |
(FRA) AMAURY BARATIN
|
HORIZON MOTO 95 | 110H 30′ 53” |
92 | 175 |
(LTU) ANTANAS KANOPKINAS
|
CFMOTO THUNDER RACING TEAM | 113H 25′ 50” |
93 | 146 |
(PRT) GAD NACHMANI
|
CLUB AVENTURA TOUAREG | 116H 11′ 38” |
94 | 70 |
(CZE) DUSAN DRDAJ
|
ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 119H 42′ 17” |
95 | 57 |
(ITA) TOMMASO MONTANARI
|
FANTIC RACING RALLY TEAM | 122H 38′ 19” |
96 | 121 |
(FRA) JAMES SIMONIN
|
NOMADE RACING | 123H 59′ 27” |
97 | 45 |
(CHN) SUNIER SUNIER
|
KOVE | 135H 41′ 54” |
98 | 144 |
(URY) FABIAN VON THUENGEN
|
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 175H 49′ 34” |
99 | 29 |
(FRA) NEELS THERIC
|
KOVE | 177H 29′ 19” |
100 | 178 |
(FRA) SAMUEL DESBUISSON
|
DRAG’ON RALLY TEAM | 192H 42′ 55” |
101 | 109 |
(MAR) MOHAMED SAID AOULAD ALI
|
CLUB AVENTURA TOUAREG | 194H 20′ 43” |
102 | 130 |
(ESP) JAVIER CAMPOS DONO
|
JOYRACE / ACAMPOS | 196H 25′ 45” |
103 | 179 |
(SAU) ALNOUMESI HANI
|
HANI ALNOUMESI | 200H 03′ 28” |