Ricky Brabec (born 21 April 1991) is an American professional off-road and

rally raid Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon ra ...

motorcycle racer. He is prominent for being the first American competitor to win the motorcycle division of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Biography

Brabec was born in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, California and started BMX when he was five years old. When he was 15, he and his family moved to the desert city of

Hesperia, California Hesperia is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located north of downtown San Bernardino in Victor Valley and surrounded by the Mojave Desert. Because of its relatively high elevation and the unique and moderate w ...

. First trying

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

, Brabec began

desert racing Desert racing is the act of racing through the desert in a two- or four-wheeled off-road vehicle. Races, which generally consist of two or more loops around a course covering up to , can take the form of Hare and Hound or Hare scramble style eve ...

in 2011. In 2014, Brabec won the Baja 1000,

Baja 500 The Baja 500 is a Mexican off-road motorsport race on the Baja California Peninsula that is sanctioned by SCORE International. The course has remained relatively the same over the years with the majority of events being a loop race starting and fi ...

and San Felipe 250. He was fifth in the bike category at

Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is an international rally raid race held in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates since 1991. The race is points scoring for the World Rally-Raid Championship and is organized by the Emirates Motorspo ...

in 2015. In 2016, he was sixth at Merzouga Rally and seventh at Atacama Rally in the bike category. He made his

debut in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and finished in 9th. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, he won his first stage, but failed to finish the race. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, he was running in 6th place when he was forced out of the race. It was the second time in his career that he retired from a race. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, he retired for the third consecutive year. In 2020, he won the bike category and two stages. Brabec also represented the United States at three

International Six Days Enduro The International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), formerly known as the International Six Days Trial (ISDT), is the oldest 'off-road' motorcycle event on the FIM Calendar. The ISDT was first held in 1913 at Carlisle, England. It has occurred annually, ...

events. The International Six Days Enduro is a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics that is the oldest annual competition sanctioned by the FIM, dating back to 1913.

Career Results

Rally Dakar

Other results

* Baja 1000 ** 2014 *

** 2014 * San Felipe 250 ** 2014 *

** 5th 2015 ** 6th 2018 * Atacama Rally ** 7th 2016 ** 9th 2018 ** 6th 2019 * Merzouga Rally ** 6th 2016 *

** 2020 * Rallye OiLibya du Maroc **

** 2018 ** 5th 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brabec, Ricky 1991 births Living people People from Hesperia, California Sportspeople from San Bernardino, California Dakar Rally motorcyclists American motocross riders Off-road motorcycle racers Enduro riders Dakar Rally winning drivers