Honda to tackle 2013 Dakar

A Honda motorcycle last won the Dakar Rally back in 1989, and since then most of the victories in the two-wheel category have gone to either Yamaha or KTM.

But that situation could soon be changing, because next year’s event - which takes place in January and runs through Peru, Chile and Argentina - will see the participation of a works Honda team for the first time in twenty-four years.

Competing under the Team HRC banner, the rider line-up has been named as Javier Pizzolito (Argentina), Helder Rodriguez (Portugal), Sam Sunderland (United Kingdom) and Felipe Zanol (Brazil).

Because of the unique demands of the race, a prototype motorcycle based on the CRF450X enduro is being specially developed, although just a sketch has been revealed for now. As an offshoot of the project, a kit of parts is also going to be produced for the standard CRF450X and this will be made available to selected privateer teams.

Honda Dakar Prototype 2013 (Rendering) Side

Tetsuo Suzuki, President, Honda Racing Corporation, said: “The Dakar requires competitors to cover several hundred kilometres per day for more than two weeks. It needs a totally different type of vehicle from events such as motocross, trials and road races. Honda has put a great deal of effort into designing and building a powerful and winning machine. We are aiming for the championship from this first year.”

No doubting the ambition, then, as it seems that anything less than first place will be seen as a failure…

Related posts:
Honda XTREME editions
2013 Honda off-roaders

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