Five riders will line up on the new factory Honda CRF450 RALLY; Joan Barreda (Spain, 31), Paulo Goncalves (Portugal, 35), Helder Rodrigues (Portugal, 35), Jeremias Israel (Chile, 33), and Laia Sanz (Spain, 28).
This new Team HRC will set off for the Rally OiLibya du Maroc, on October 3rd in Erfoud (Morocco) in order to prepare for the world’s most difficult and challenging off-road event: the Dakar Rally which begins on 4th January 2015 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). The two week long 9,000 kilometres Dakar crosses Argentina, Bolivia and Chilean territories, and takes in all kinds of terrain, concluding on the 17th January in the Argentinian capital. Joan Barreda, Paulo Goncalves and Helder Rodrigues have participated in several rounds of the 2014 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. This season, Paulo Goncalves, current World Champion, has won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the first round of the Championship, and Joan Barreda has won the Sealine Qatar Rally. Goncalves is currently in second place, and will be in the running for the title in Morocco. New additions to the team are Chilean Jeremias Israel and Dakar’s female-class winner Laia Sanz.
Team HRC’s aim is to win the Dakar; the most prestigious and gruelling off road motorcycle race in the world. An exceptional work bench for the bike, which subsequently will become tomorrow’s mass-production model.
The staff members are led by Large Project Leader Katsumi Yamazaki, General Manager Martino Bianchi, and Team Manager Wolfgang Fischer.
Team HRC welcome KH-7 as new partner of the Team in the Dakar Rally Project.
