Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

102 | JUNE 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au

STARTPRACTICE

Brabec,whosuffereda mechanical

whileleadingDakarinJanuary,was

partneredupwithKendallNormanfor

theJCRHondateam.Thepairdecided

thestartwasparamount.“Kendallhad

meouttherepracticingthestartthis

morning,”Brabectoldthemedia.

Fortunatelyhenailedit,givingthem

anadvantagethroughthefirstlap.But

KawasakipilotJacobArgubrightdidn’t

makethingseasy,withthelead

changinghandsseveraltimes.

Argubright’seffortswereimpressive

consideringhewasintheIronman

classandracingonhisown.

Atthecompletionoflapone,Brabec

handedovertoNormanwhotookcare

ofthesecondlap.Whenhereturneda

shortwhilelaterandgavethebike

backtoBrabec,Argubrighthadtaken

overthelead.Thatdidn’tlastlong

thoughasBrabeccruisedpastthe

Kawasaki rider and led the whole way

home to the chequered flag. Maybe it

RACE WRAP I MINT 400

The buggies stopped running for 20 years from ’88

Doug Karlson cruises to last on his trick Harley

washisDakarexperiencethatgothim

overtheline,ormaybeArgubrightwas

sufferingfromthosethreebrutallaps.

Impressively,Argubrightheldon

forsecondfromMarkSamuels,also

ona Honda.BrabecandNorman

completedtheracein4 hoursand 53

minutes,withArgubrightjustovera

minutebehind.

Brabechadthistosayabouttherace:

“Thecoursewasreallygreatand,on

thefirstlap,I thought‘thisis really

fun’.Butwehadsomemoisturethis

weekandI knewit wasgoingtoget

rough.Andthatlastlapwasrough.I

hadtopush.Jakerodereallywelland

keptusonourtoes.”

ThewinbyJohnnyCampbellRacing

markedHonda’sfirstintheMint,with

winsinthe1970ssharedby

HusqvarnaandYamaha.Following

thebikerace,attentionturnedtothe

cars,withthearrayofclassessplit

overthreeracesandtwodays.

Whiletherewereplentyofbig

namesfromtheoff-roadcarworld,

onenamethatstoodoutwasformer

FormulaOnechampionJensonButton,

whoshareddrivingdutiesina

BrenthelIndustries 6100 trophytruck.

Despitea fewissues,ButtonandCo.

stillmanagedtofinish.

ThelastracekickedoffonSundayat

1.30pmandbymidnight,thecourse

wasclosed.Thefollowingmorning,an

AwardsBrunchwasheldinPrimm,

beforetheinevitablepackupbegan.

Asthedustsettledaroundtheedges

ofLasVegas,thetownresumednormal

operations.Ofcoursethat’sa bitofa

misnomer;nothinginVegasis normal.

You’vegottobea littlecrazytoracein

thedesert,butVegasis very

accommodatingforcrazytypes.You

couldevensayit’sa paradise.

Gotsomethingtosayaboutthisyarn?

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More images and info at adbmag.com.au

Riders had to

stand facing

their bike

with the front

wheel between

their legs