Joan Barreda is a Spanish rally raid competitor who has competed several times in the Dakar Rally, but yet little is known.
Frontaer is stepping in to fill the gaps.
Joan Barreda
Very few English interviews have been conducted with Joan. That said, one of his teammates is Ricky Brabec who won the Dakar Rally in 2020.
As we can hear, his Spanish speaking skills would be well beyond his English, yet it doesn’t impact his skills behind the throttle. This man can certainly push beyond the limits of physics!
Motorcycles and Race Winnings
Joan has ridden for a number of brands during his professional career as a motorcyclist at the highest levels of competition. Currently he’s with the Honda HRC Rally team.
He started out in 2011 while riding an Aprilia though he crashed in only the 2nd stage which hammered his chances of finishing. Those injuries can be seriously harsh at such high speeds.
The following year in 2012, he chose to ride a Husqvarna and this time, he actually finished in 3rd position in that same 2nd stage. Unfortunately, the bike (or was it the brand?) let him down due to mechanical issues.
Fortunately, he won the 10th stage and finished 11th overall on the podium, finishing around 3.5 hours later than Cyril Despres who won. In that same year, Joan won the Pharaons Rally and the Spanish Baja, both times riding a Husky.
In 2013, he was back and finished in 17th position due to getting lost and issues with his fuel pump. Fortunately, no injuries!
In 2014, he won 5 stages of the Dakar Rally which is incredible, yet still finished in 7th position due to electricial issues on the penultimate stage. How frustrating!
Finally, in 2020 he finished 16th overall in the Dakar Rally.
Future Ambitions
We’d love to see Joan win a Dakar in this decade, and we’re sure as hell he would too. The landscape is ultra competitive yet a man who has competed for almost a decade at high speeds through the desserts of the world is owed a win.
After all, he also won the Sealine Rally in Qatar. The man is simply a weapon on any motorcycle!