The 2025 Dakar Rally will mark the end of Jan Brabec’s 33-year racing career before shifting to being a rally team owner and instructor. For his eighth Dakar, his helmet will continue to feature nods to the Royal Air Force as well as his child Honzik.

Designed by Petr “Slim Grafix” Šimák, the helmet features a Type A.2 roundel on the side, which was used by RAF aircraft during the early years of the war (particularly the Grummam F4F Wildcat) with a thinner yellow outer ring than the A.1 version to make it more less visible to the enemy. Seven skulls-and-crossbones are depicted to represent his seven Dakars. Honzik is on the back between the text “Jako d’as” (“Like a boss”) and “Co tě to napadlo koupit ti letadlo?” (“What made you think of buying yourself a plane?”).

Brabec is a World War II buff who enjoys flying planes in his free time. He revealed in a 2019 interview that he typically puts on audiobooks of war stories when he is feeling down. In May, he received a wartime RAF ring, complete with a Bravingtons Limited box, from friends in the service.

Although Brabec is Czech, over two thousand of his ancestral countrymen—Czechs and Slovaks—joined the RAF during World War II; many reached Britain after escaping from the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Many served with distinction, including four Czechoslovak fighter squadrons, participating in engagements like the Battle of Britain and Operation Overlord. Despite the airmen’s contributions to Allied victory and regaining their homeland, their roles were downplayed with a number facing persecution for flying with a Western air force following the 1948 communist coup d’état.

Naturally, Brabec’s helmets throughout his career pay tribute to the British air division and its Czech contributors. For the 2024 race, he wore a helmet with silhouettes of the Supermarine Spitfire and the phrase, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few,” which Winston Churchill recited in a famous speech discussing the RAF’s defense of the home island. His 2023 helmet bore the names of Czech pilots Václav Cukr, Josef František, Karel Kuttelwascher, František Peřina, Otto Smik, Leopold Šrom, Josef Stehlík, and Alois Vašátko.

He’s also given lectures about British pilots back home for students and the elderly.

“The sense of duty and respect for pilots and what they did for our country keeps me awake at night,” Brabec said prior to the 2019 race. “I try my best to fight against the way the communists brought them down.

“I’ve read all the books, seen the movies. I’ve been to places to understand what happened during the war. I enjoy teaching others and living this way of life, showing that I’m not just an ordinary athlete but to give it some meaning. I talk about the pilots, how everything around them worked, and how many of our neighbors fled to the West through Hungary.”

Brabec’s best Dakar finish is a 23rd in 2022. His 2024 season began with a 15th in Rally2 at Dakar, which he built upon with a third in class at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and a 16th at the Rallye du Maroc. He finished fifth in the World Rally-Raid Championship for his category.

After the 2025 Dakar, he will convert his Strojrent Racing into a rally rider development program. Brabec announced his retirement plans in September.

Featured image credit: Petr Šimák / Slim Grafix