Jan Brabec

Jan
Brabec

JAN WAS BORN ON JUNE 23, 1983 IN HUSTOPEČE NEAR BRNO. AS EARLY AS 4 YEARS OLD HE GOT A BMX BIKE AND WITHIN THREE YEARS WON HIS FIRST MASTERS TITLE. THAT SAME YEAR HE GOT HIS FIRST MOTOCROSS BIKE AND UNDER THE DIRECTION OF HIS FATHER, HE BEGAN TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO THE SPORT. JAN HAS BEEN UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF EXPERIENCED AND SEASONED MOTOCROSSERS SUCH AS MIREK KUČÍREKOR AND THEN STILL RACING PETR KUCHAŘ. AT THE AGE OF TWELVE, HE FIRST FLEW TO CALIFORNIA WITH HIS FATHER WHERE HE EARNED VALUABLE ADVICE AND EXPERIENCE FROM CASEY JOHNSON AND MOTOCROSS LEGEND JEREMY MCGRATH. SINCE THEN HE HAS BEEN RETURNING TO THE US REGULARLY TO CONTINUE GAININGKNOWLEDGE OF THIS EVOLVING SPORT.

JAN HAS WON SEVERAL HOME TITLES IN HIS CAREER INCLUDING HIS WIN AT RONDO IN BRNO. ALONG WITH HIS HOME TITLES HE ALSO COMPETED IN SEVERAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR FOREIGN TEAMS. HE RACED ON THE ITALIAN TEAM OF SRS HONDA FOR MULTIPLE YEARS. FOLLOWING THAT HE WAS APART OF THE DUTCH TEAM BOERSFOON SUZUKI. TOGETHER WITH MICHAL KADLEČEK AND JIRKA ČEPELÁK, HE PLACED FOURTEENTH IN THE MOTOCROSS OF THE NATIONS IN 2007. JAN HAS A PASSION FOR THIS SPORT AND IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW WAYS TO CHALLENGE HIMSELF.

BACK IN
THE GAME!

"I had a crash when we were testing in Tunisia. I had a highsider and hit a rock at 160 km/h. The bike catapulted me into the air and I crashed: seven broken bones, internal bleeding and everything. I had to crawl through the desert for an hour because nobody was around. My teammate Martin Macik and his truck crew were coming back from a photoshoot and found me on the ground. It happened at the beginning of June, so I didn't race this year. I was off the bike for three months. Everyone was like, 'wow, you're back so quickly.' I said, 'I need to start the Dakar!' I tried to train for Morocco, but that was impossible. So I've been training every day, and I'll be ready. It's been a tough six months, but I'm back in the game. I just got back from three days of training with my good friend Stefan Svitko. I'm slowing getting my speed back. For me, navigation is the key because I know I can be fast.

At Dakar 2019 I was running 16th on the sixth stage, then I got a huge penalty, nine hours. It was my mistake, but that's why I finished 34th. Even with my injury and everything, I hope to be in the top 20, that's my goal. If I set a target like that it helps me with training. I know I can be fast, I just don't want to make the same mistakes I did last year. I can't wait to be in Saudi Arabia. I've never been before, but I'm pretty excited to race there. When I saw the videos and had a look at the scenery, it was like 'wow!'. It's like you're riding on the moon! That's what it looked like sometimes. So I said to myself that I have to get back and I have to be on the start line in Saudi Arabia."