BoxHill.co.uk

[Taz]

Honda has announced its intention to participate as a Works Team in the motorcycle class of the Dakar Rally. The race takes place in January 2013 and sees the motorcycles race through South America, travelling north to south across Peru, Chile and Argentina.

It has been 23 years since our last official participation in the Dakar Rally. Although from 1981 to 1989 we competed nine times in the motorcycle class in the forerunner of the present Dakar Rally, the Paris-Dakar Rally, and won as many as five times during that period.

The rally requires competitors to cover several hundred kilometres per day for more than two weeks, so it needs a totally different type of vehicle from events such as motocross, trials and road races.

The Honda team, to be called Team HRC, will include Portuguese rider Helder Rodrigues, who took third place in the 2012 Dakar Rally, Brazilian Felipe Zanol, who brings a wealth of experience in motocross and enduro race events, as well as Sam Sunderland (UK) and Javier Pizzolito (Argentina).

They will ride a prototype machine developed and produced by the Honda Motorcycle R&D Centre. The prototype machine is based on the CRF450X, the popular worldwide enduro racing model that combines ease of handling with superior competitive strength. Kit parts designed for use on the standard CRF450X model have also been developed and will be supplied to a limited number of teams.
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