Honda Repeats Dakar Rally Win

January 18, 2021 3 min read

Honda wins 2021 Dakar Rally motorcycle category — For the second year in a row, Honda won the Dakar Rally’s motorcycle category, with Kevin Benavides (Argentina) taking 1st place and Ricky Brabec (USA) taking 2nd.

For the second year in a row, Honda earned the overall victory in the Dakar Rally’s motorcycle category, with Argentinean Kevin Benavides finishing ahead of Monster Energy Honda teammate Ricky Brabec, the Southern Californian who last year became the first winner from the USA. It was the first Dakar Rally win for the 32-year-old Benavides, who rode his first Dakar Rally in 2016, and the first time in 34 years that Honda took the top two spots in the grueling international endurance event, with Cyril Neveu and Edi Orioli having managed the feat in 1987.

Honda's Kevin Benavides wins 2021 Dakar Rally — Kevin Benavides (Argentina) rides his Honda CRF450 Rally to Dakar victory.

The Dakar Rally’s 43rd edition (the second in Saudi Arabia) comprised a prolog and 12 stages and covered nearly 5,000 miles in a counterclockwise loop around Saudi Arabia, starting and finishing in the port city of Jeddah. Approximately 3,000 miles of the route were in timed (or “special”) stages, and Benavides had a winning tally of 47 hours, 18 minutes, 14 seconds, less than five minutes better than Brabec.

Honda's Ricky Brabec finished 2nd in the 2021 Dakar Rally — Ricky Brabec (USA), who won the 2020 Dakar Rally, came in 2nd place in 2021.

It was a dominant performance by Honda Racing Corporation’s factory rally effort, whose CRF450 Rally-mounted riders won nine of 12 stages plus the prolog—two stages by Benavides, three stages and the prolog by Brabec, three stages by Joan Barreda and one stage by Jose Cornejo. Barreda and Cornejo were forced to drop out of the race—the former after missing a fuel stop and running out of fuel, and the latter following a hard crash.

“I gave everything to achieve this win which is a dream come true for me,” said Benavides, who is the first South American to win the event. “I am very happy and thrilled about it.”

“Congratulations Kevin Benavides!” said Yoshishige Nomura, President of Honda Racing Corporation. “I am also truly grateful to Ricky Brabec for completing such a grueling rally in a manner as good as winning, José Ignacio Cornejo who led the rally until his unfortunate retirement, and Joan Barreda. Monster Energy Honda Team riders could only perform as well as they did despite the COVID-19 situation, because of the team staff and everyone in the development team working smart to overcome the many difficulties. I am truly grateful. I would also like to share our elation in victory and our gratitude with our sponsors and all of our fans. And last but certainly not least, I respect and thank the race organizers and the other teams for making this event a reality despite the extreme circumstances.”