Hero MotoSports Team Rally announced its rider lineup for the Dakar Rally 2023 . Franco Caimi, Joaquim Rodrigues, Ross Branch, and Sebastian Buhler all won Dakar stages in 2022 .
New Delhi (India), December 10 : Hero MotoSports Team Rally announced its rider lineup for the Dakar Rally 2023 on Friday, achieving the team's seventh appearance at the rally in the Dakar 2023 season, with Franco Caimi, Joaquim Rodrigues, Ross Branch, and Sebastian Buhler all being Dakar stage winners.The team spent many months preparing and testing around the world.After months of recovering from their crashes in 2021, team riders Caimi and Buhler returned to racing.Joaquim Rodrigues won a stage at the Dakar 2022 for the seventh time.
The year 2022 has been an exciting year for me, having started on a high with my first Dakar stage victory.The team's form has been consistently improving throughout the season, and we have put a lot of thought into the Dakar 2023 bike.The team and I have been training hard for the Dakar all year, and now we are anticipating a great month in Saudi Arabia.Since coming aboard in February 2022, we are looking forward to seeing many victories for myself and the team, said Honda rider Joaquim Rodrigues. Hero MotoSports' first year has been great, with the team capturing numerous stage victories and stage podiums at various international rallies.My first year with Hero MotoSports was an exciting and fulfilling one, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to represent this formidable team at the Dakar Rally 2023.The team has put a lot of love, passion, and hard work into the bike.I have also been training well and am feeling physically and emotionally fit. Due to unfortunate accidents in the months before the rally, Caimi and Buhler missed the 2022 Dakar.However, they have improved dramatically throughout the year and have put up high-performance in the final few races of the W2RC 2022.I'm super excited to return to the Dakar after a bad year.I have fully recovered and have been consistently improving my results this season.We are confident for Dakar and our new momentum will be fruitful at the rally, Honda rider Franco Caimi says. This will be Buhler's third appearance with the team at the Rally.It has been a long year of recovery since my unfortunate injury in November 2021.I've been putting in some effort to get back to shape and be ready for Dakar 2023.I raced in the last two rallies of the W2RC 2022 season, and this allowed me to re-arrange and refine my results a great deal.I think this group is now geared up for the long haul, according to Sebastian Buhler.Dakar 2023, the fourth edition in Saudi Arabia, will be 14 stages over 15 days, two stages more than the previous editions, and is expected to be more challenging than the previous editions. From here, the race will go south-east to cross the famous Empty Quarter before heading northwards to Dammam, on January 15th, 2023.On this route which traverses 8600 kilometers, of which 4700+ kms are timed sections, the only rest day for the participants is after 8 stages.A total of 365 vehicles are set to reach the start line, with 143 of them in the motorcycles segment, according to Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager of Hero MotoSports Team Rally.We have had a great year thus far, and we look forward to starting the next season off with a solid show at Dakar 2023, she said. The bikes have been doing an excellent job, and we are ecstatic to return for our seventh tryst with the greatest challenge.I want to express my warmest wishes and appreciation to all of our sponsors and followers around the world for their continued love and support.The 45th Dakar Rally will also be the 2nd edition of the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC).Hero MotoSports is a Rally GP class member of the W2RC, and it will run five rounds, beginning with the Dakar, then Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (Feb 2023), Sonora Rally in Mexico (Apr 2023), Desafio Ruta 40 in Argentina (Aug 2023), and ending the season with the Rallye du Maroc (Oct. 2023).