Dakar, Howes on seventh heaven: “An honour to share the podium with two legends”

The latest Dakar may have gone to Argentinian rider Kevin Benavides, but it also offered a certain Skyler Howes the opportunity to really make his mark. The American rider, competing for the factory Husqvarna team, placed third overall, finishing roughly two minutes behind the winner to share the podium with two Rally Raid legends in the shape of Benavides and Toby Price, both two-time winners of the world’s toughest off-road race.

Howes becomes the fifth American rider in history to finish a Dakar top three aboard a motorcycle, positioning himself among the very best and setting himself up as a frontrunner for this year’s W2RC. An incredible result if we consider that Skyler was a privateer rider up until two years ago, when he was given the opportunity of a lifetime thanks to Husqvarna.

Howes: “The difficulties make the final result even better”

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“I’m so very happy”, states Howes on completing the 2023 Dakar. “It was an incredible race, full of highs and lows and uncertainty all the way to the end. I knew my direct rivals would push to the max in the final special and it’s crazy to think that I finished just minutes from first place after two weeks and more than forty hours of racing.”

“I reached the finish line safely, it all went well and sharing the podium with two Dakar legends like Kevin Benavides and Toby Price is an honour, a dream come true. It was really hard to reach this point, but the difficulties and hard work make the result even more special. I don’t want to stop now though and I’m even more confident ahead of the next world rounds”, concludes an extremely motivated Skyler.

The next round of the Rally Raid World Championship will be the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, taking place from 26 February to 3 March.