Monster Honda's Ricky Brabec has taken his first stage in Dakar 2021 but is still nearly 15 minutes behind overall leader and team-mate Ignacio Cornejo.

Reigning champion Brabec finshed two minutes ahead of Cornejo on today's marathon stage but will have to go some to get close to a title defence this week.

"I'm not sure about getting back a whole lotta time. Toby's still behind me. We're gonna try and stay focused and make it through tomorrow to get back to a mechanic," said Brabec.

"I don't know if this Dakar is about strategy. I think the strategy is to not open. I think everyone that's opening is just losing a little bit of time.

"There's five days left and we're gonna try just to finish in the top 7 every day and see if we can make up a little bit of time."