Ricky Brabec makes the move up to second on stage one of the Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally throws up surprises everyday and with it come both the highs and the lows as the Monster Energy Honda Team found out on the first proper stage of this 46th edition.

The opening kilometres continued where the prologue left off with a mix of rocks and sandy terrain around the canyons. Ricky Brabec was on a mission spending most of the stage amongst the front runners as he looked to move up the overall ranking, the 2020 winner using his experience to take a well deserved second place at the end of the day.

Contending with a mixture of dry river crossings, gravel tracks and rocks, the 414 km special was ridden around an exhilarating environment of old volcanos and lava slabs as riders made their way from AlUla to the next bivouac at Al Henakiyah.

It was a positive day for fourth placed Jose Ignacio Cornejo,  despite it not being his favoured terrain he would keep up a relentless pace to be at the sharp end with fellow Chilean Pablo Quintanilla also swapping places at the top.  Towards the latter end of the day’s action Quintanilla would drop down to ninth, difficulty in navigation causing him to lose over twenty minutes to stage winner Ross Branch.

Undertaking an intensive training programme coming into this year’s edition, Adrien Van Beveren finished behind Quintanilla in tenth maintaining a cautious pace in the stoney areas to make sure he got to the finish without issue.

After the disappointment of yesterday’s prologue for Skyler Howes, things didn’t fare much better today for the American. The task of setting off near the front with clear track ahead only added to another difficult day, which saw him ultimately finish nearly forty minutes back in sixteenth place.

He took his maiden stage win on the prologue but it was heartbreak for overall favourite Tosha Schareina who was forced to abandon 240 km into today’s special, a surprisingly slow crash ending his chances. Dubbed as one to watch on this rally he was airlifted from the route with a broken wrist.

In the overall standings, Ricky Brabec has now gone up to second, twelve minutes adrift of leader Ross Branch, while José Ignacio Cornejo is on the move too from thirteenth to fourth.  Pablo Quintanilla and Adrien Van Beveren have just a few seconds between them in ninth and tenth, while Skyler Howes will be looking for better fortune over the next few days as he climbs up from seventeenth.

Riders will be resting up at Al Henakiyah, recharging before the third day of rallying where there’ll be even more mileage on the cards for stage two.  Riders will rack up a total of 655 km as they’ll be put through their paces on a 463 km special with an increased road section making up the numbers. The dune surfers will enjoy 30 km of sand mixed with long, fast stretches from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi.  This is only just the beginning of what the next longer stages will bring as it’ll be a proper test of man and machine in the Saudi Arabian heat.