It was certainly a good day for the riders of the Monster Energy Honda Team! Special stage number one at the Dakar Rally 2023 brought 369 kilometers of action throughout sandy and stony tracks, with start point and arrival at the Sea Camp bivouac – close to Yanbu (South Arabia). American Ricky Brabec was the stage winner on a day where all team riders were in the spotlight.
With this result, Brabec – the 2020 Dakar winner – gets into first position in the overall standings. Pablo Quintanilla (Chile) was seventh, Adrien Van Beveren (France) was ranked ninth and José Ignacio Cornejo – who had the hard mission to open the stage – finished in 10th place in this first stage.
Honda General Manager Ruben Faria said, “I know we are just starting, but I have to say I feel really proud of our team. All riders performed incredibly well and the results are there. All the team is feeling good and are doing the right steps. We have been here before and will continue to fight for consistency in the days to come.”
Honda rider Ricky Brabec said, “Goal number one was not to open the stage. I feel quite well and confident after today, but I will just try to go day by day, keep pace and stay in the Top 10. It’s going to be hard to be out of the lead – like we saw today – but we have to see how it goes until the rest day. Today was fairly simple, no stress, it was a great day!”
“We have started the morning with fast valleys and river beds with many stones, so the first section was quite challenging. I enjoyed the second part, after the first neutralization where we had faster tracks and sand in the open desert. I felt good, quite fast and with a good rhythm.” said Honda rider Pablo Quintanilla.
“At the beginning of the stage I was struggling to look at the stones kind of hidden in the sand. In the second part of the stage I was really better – I am happy with my performance and want to keep riding this way along the rally.” said Honda rider Adrien Van Beveren.
Another Honda rider José Ignacio Cornejo said, “Today was a day that could have gone really bad, because I had to open the stage. I did my best and in the end the outcome was great. I liked the navigation, I was not too confident because when you are you can make mistakes – so that was a good spirit and way to face these circumstances.”
