Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Hino Team Sugawara might not be the fastest truck at the Dakar Rally, but they sure know how to be reliable. The Japanese manufacturer has had at least one of their trucks reach the finish every year since their début in 1991, a streak that extended to thirty-three in a row (recall the 2008 race was cancelled) when Teruhito Sugawara finished a career-best sixth in class at the latest edition in January.

Sugawara’s Hino 600 is a truck with a four-stroke, straight-six diesel engine that produces 789.05 horsepower. It was originally supposed to feature a 400-kilogram hybrid system but the team was unable to install it as the FIA requires such vehicles to be in the Mission 1000 class. Without hybrid power, the team had to switch to a higher gear ratio that provided more acceleration, albeit at the cost of fuel efficiency.

After a relatively calm start to the 2024 rally, the six-speed transmission started to slip during the third stage but the team managed to keep it together by racing conservatively the next day until it was shortened for trucks for safety reasons. The Hino survived the first day of the 48-hour Chrono Stage before losing five hours to damaged fuel line on the second, which forced Sugawara, co-driver Hirokazu Somemiya, and mechanic Yuji Mochizuki to funnel gas into the tank while the truck was tilted. They eventually finished the rally without further issue, with Sugawara’s best finish being a sixth in Stage #6.

“Hino Motors was able to complete thirty-three consecutive races and place sixth overall in the 2024 race thanks to the support of many people, especially the sponsors,” said Sugawara. “On behalf of the team, I would like to express my gratitude once again. Although the environment around us is tough, we will continue to work together as a team to prepare a faster, more reliable truck and a stronger team.”

The truck returned to Japan in June. The team’s main focus as they prepare for the 2025 race is on updating the piping surrounding the engine as well as improving the transmission’s clutch plate strength. They also hope to make more durable parts, along with revising the production and maintenance cycles to better expedite the replacement process.

Balázs and Gabriella Molnár are the latest team to be bringing the new Can-Am Maverick R to a cross-country rally when they enter it in the Hungarian Baja. The car will compete in the T4/SSV National category as part of the Hungarian Cross-Country Rally Championship.

While the national championship follows slightly different regulations from that of the FIA European Baja Cup, which will also race at the Hungarian Baja, the Molnárs and M1 Motorsport naturally still wanted to ensure it complies with the sanctioning body’s rulebook.

“We completely stripped the car,” explained Balázs Molnár. At the time that he spoke with Erős Réka about the vehicle, the only thing missing were the FOX shock absorbers. “It’s got an FIA-approved frame, a 130-litre safety fuel tank, and all the necessary safety equipment, including seats, harnesses, a central fire extinguishing system race wheels and the list goes on.”

The Molnárs previously raced the Can-Am Maverick X3, which enjoyed successes like winning the Raid of the Champions outright to wrap up the 2023 Hungarian season. Unfortunately for them, the X3’s stint ended on a sour note with back-to-back retirements at the Baja Satu Mare and the Italian Baja, the latter part of the Hungarian championship despite taking place in another country.

“We loved racing the X3—despite its flaws—and we knew it well, achieving many good results. But once the new Maverick came, it was obvious we would build a race car from it,” Balázs stated.

Cadillac Racing have announced they will be partnering with Hertz Team JOTA for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). The privateer team, currently running two Porsche 963s, will combine with the American giants to create Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA and will field two cars in what is expected to be an extremely competitive 2025 grid.

Hertz Team JOTA have gone from strength to strength since joining the Hypercar class in 2023. Originally entering as a one-car outfit, they put on a great display throughout the season, including a memorable stint in the lead of the 2023 Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans. On the anniversary of entering the championship for the first time, the British-based team secured a magnificent victory at the 2024 6 Hours of Spa.

Having been a superb privateer team, JOTA Sport are now relishing the prospect of being a manufacturer team. Cadillac Racing have demonstrated great pace with their Cadillac V-Series.R machine with its thunderous 5.5 litre V8 engine, but have been thwarted by technical infringements and unfortunate on-track incidents which has led to a disappointing position so far in the points table.

So far no driver announcements have been made. However, both the American giant and the plucky British privateer have a great pool of talent from which to draw.

“JOTA has always strived to become a manufacturer team, so now joining forces with Cadillac is the realization of this goal” enthused Sam Hignett, Hertz Team JOTA’s Director and Founder. “Having competed against the Cadillac V-Series.R for the last two seasons, we have experienced how competitive it is and we are genuinely honored to be entrusted with fielding its cars from 2025 onward. We are in the privileged position to have enjoyed record-breaking success in the FIA World Endurance Championship, especially at Le Mans, and we are very much looking forward to continuing this success with Cadillac and Hertz.”

Rather than be in Saudi Arabia on his Husqvarna 450 Rally Replica in January 2025, Vincent Biau will be in the Maghreb on a Suzuki V-Strom 800DE. He has opted to enter the Africa Eco Race instead of the Dakar Rally, making his début in the former, as a solo Malle Moto rider.

Biau finished fifty-eighth in Rally2 and fifteenth in the Original by Motul subcategory at the 2024 Dakar Rally in January. It was his maiden start in the event after qualifying with a tenth at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, where he was also the best performing Malle Moto rider. Under Original by Motul/Malle Moto rules, he was forbidden from receiving assistance from a crew and had to work on his bike by himself or with the help of other competitors. This ultimately shifted his strategy when he crashed and broke his ankle and ribs across the first two legs, forcing him to ride more conservatively to the end.

He announced in May that he will not return for his second Dakar in 2025.

Later that month, he entered the Hellas Rally Raid in Greece on his Suzuki 800DE where he finished forty-ninth overall, seventh in the M6 class for two-cylinder motorcycles, and ninth in Malle Moto. The race proved to be relatively smooth sailing compared to Dakar, save for when he was attacked by a be during the fifth leg and a malfunctioning roadbook on the last day.

The Suzuki 800DE is an adventure bike that he acquired over the spring. It features a 776cc dual overhead camshaft parallel twin engine, significantly stronger than the traditional 450cc of a rally bike, along with 220 millimetres in front and rear suspension travel. Adventure bikes are typically not used for rallies though certain events permit them in a separate category, often called Trail or MaxiTrail. The FIM Bajas World Cup introduced the Trail class for 2024 for motorcycles over 600cc. An Aprilia Tuareg 660 won the latest Africa Eco Race in January ahead of two Yamaha Ténéré 700s.

The Olympic Games are regarded as the pinnacle of sport. The Dakar Rally is regarded as the pinnacle of off-road motorsport.

While reading a roadbook and driving through deserts don’t have the same physical demands as swimming a hundred metres or navigating down mountain slopes, that hasn’t stopped the world’s best athletes from trying their hand at the iconic rally raid.

Nasser Al-Attiyah is far and away the most notable example. When the five-time Dakar winner and twice World Rally-Raid Champion isn’t blowing away the field with his driving prowess, he is blowing away targets with his shotgun in skeet shooting. The Qatari made his Olympic début at Atlanta in 1996, where he finished fifteenth, followed by a sixth at Sydney 2000, narrowly missing out on a medal at Athens 2004, and fifteenth at Beijing 2008. He finally broke through to win bronze at the 2012 London Games while a thirty-first in Rio in 2016 was his latest appearance. Al-Attiyah hoped to return for the ongoing Paris Olympics but did not make the final cut.

Before becoming the co-driver for Rebecca Busi in the W2RC, Sergio Lafuente raced the Dakar on a Quad with three stage wins and a pair of fifth-place finishes in 2012 and 2014 and is also a three-time Desafío Ruta 40 champion. Way before that, he finished twenty-sixth in the men’s light-heavyweight class at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for Uruguay.

On the winter side, Andorra’s Albert Llovera was the youngest Olympian at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo at the age of seventeen, where he placed forty-eighth in downhill alpine skiing but retired from the slalom and giant slalom events. The following year, however, his ski career came to an end due to an accident that resulted in a serious spinal cord injury. Still, his injury did not stop him from trying new things like competing in the World Rally Championship and eventually the Dakar in 2007. Llovera has raced a truck at Dakar since 2016, finishing seventeenth in class at the latest rally in January.

In January before the start of the American off-road racing season, Brock Heger was asked if he would consider tackling the Dakar Rally someday, to which he responded, “I wouldn’t say no.”

Almost seven months later, he can confirm that he did not say no.

On Monday, Polaris announced Heger and defending SSV winner Xavier de Soultrait will comprise the line-up for Sébastien Loeb Racing at the 2025 Dakar Rally. Heger will have his Polaris Factory Racing colleague Max Eddy Jr. as his co-driver while Martin Bonnet returns to Soultrait’s right side.

Heger is one of the top off-road racers in America today with success in both short course and desert racing. Since 2021, he has claimed a title of some form on an annual basis starting with Championship Off-Road’s Pro Lite crown followed by its Pro Stock SxS the year after. He then won the 2023 SCORE International Pro UTV Open championship with Polaris Factory Racing, which included being the fastest UTV outright at the Baja 500 and Baja 400.

He returned to PFR for the 2024 desert season, continuing his momentum by winning his class at King of the Hammers‘ UTV Hammers Championship and Toyo Tires Desert Challenge. Heger is currently third in SCORE’s Pro UTV Open points halfway through that series’ season with a second at San Felipe and twelfth in the Baja 500.

Orlando Terranova figured his Dakar Rally career was wrapped up after 2023, even if it ended on a disappointing note. However, it might not be over for him just yet.

Speaking with Carburando Radio on Thursday, Terranova admitted he might not be opposed to returning to the race in 2026, provided his heart and mind are willing to commit to it.

“I decided last year to stop after eighteen Dakars,” he began. “I’m still in contact with all the drivers and follow them closely, but I’m looking for motivation to return in 2026.

“Last year, I felt like I was going with the flow and not on motivation. If there is something that I am clear about in life, it’s that things have to be done when you really want to. I’m not doing it to prove anything to anyone or have a figure of anything. I do it because I feel like it.”

2023 marked Terranova’s seventeenth Dakar and fifteenth on four wheels. Racing a Prodrive Hunter for Bahrain Raid Xtreme, he notched a third in Stage #3 but retired the next day after hurting his lower back on a hard landing. It was his second Dakar in the Hunter after finishing a career-best fourth in 2022 with a stage win.

Nikita Mazepin did not have much rust to shake off in his cross-country rally return over the weekend, finishing second overall and winning his class at the Denis Davydov Baja.

Piloting a Can-Am Maverick X3 for 99 Racing, Mazepin set the fastest times through the first stage on Saturday as he led Andrey Boksha by 1:17. However, his grip on the overall lead slipped the next day when Timur Shigabutdinov beat him by nineteen seconds. A thirteenth on the third section dropped him to second outright behind winner Alexey Kuznetsov, though he managed to salvage a win on the fourth and final leg with 1:25 over Andrey Novikov.

His runner-up won him the N2 category for side-by-side vehicles (equivalent to the FIA’s Challenger/T3 and SSV/T4 divisions). Shigabutdinov and Novikov joined him on the class podium; Novikov had scored a third in T3 at Russia’s premier Silk Way Rally in July.

“Rally is a great way for me to stay in shape and test my off-road driving skills,” said Mazepin before the race.

The Denis Davydov Baja was Mazepin’s first rally raid of 2024 and fourth as a whole. He broke into the discipline in 2022 by competing at the Ladoga Trophy and Silk Way, winning the latter in T3 despite being new to it. Scheduling obligations prevented him from racing the 2023 Silk Way, and his only race that year was a second at the Baja Astrakhan. Mazepin has expressed interest in racing the Dakar Rally someday as a longtime fan of the sport.

Polaris Off-Road Vehicles unveiled the 2025 Polaris RZR Pro family on Thursday, making upgrades to their long-running lineup with emphasis on driver comfort by redesigning the interior. Shipping will begin in August 2025.

The flagship RZR Pro R, the racing version of which has enjoyed tremendous success in recent years as the top UTV brand in SCORE International today and the reigning Dakar Rally SSV winner, introduces dual retractor harness system to better help the passenger adjust their seating. The Pro R Ultimate trim also has a new subwoofer system with front and rear speakers courtesy of Rockford Fosgate as well as heating and ventilation within the seats.

All Pro models, including the RZR Pro S (formerly called Turbo R) and RZR Pro XP, have a new dashboard, upgraded seating that better moulds to the passenger’s form, and fresh cabin air intakes that Polaris hopes to patent. Their doors now include a double latch and door seal model, while the RZR fang headlight has returned.

The performance has naturally received a round of upgrades as is tradition for new production vehicles, though they generally remain the same. For example, the 2025 Pro R still uses the 225-horsepower ProStar Fury 2.0 engine, which is the same as those used by Polaris Factory Racing in SCORE and Sébastien Loeb Racing in rally raids. The Pro S and Pro XP both use a 181-hp turbocharged motor, while the latter has adopted the Pro S’ transmission and lower gear to help it go uphill.

“With the 2025 RZR Pro lineup, we’re continuing to improve the rider experience and push the boundaries of style and performance,” commented Polaris general manager and vice president Reid Wilson. “This lineup is an example of our relentless attention to detail and our commitment to delivering the very best to our customers by enhancing every aspect of the RZR experience.”

Two years after making his début, Ottavio Missoni Jr. will tackle the Dakar Rally once more in 2025. This time, however, he will do so without a team to help him as he plans to compete in the Original by Motul class.

Missoni announced Friday that his application to run the 2025 edition was accepted by the Amaury Sport Organisation.

“I have always said that the satisfaction of being at the start, the thrill of riding, and the joy of finishing on the first try were such that only with the right motivation would I consider a second start,” he wrote. “A great proposal has appeared, an intriguing challenge, in the ‘Original’ category, more commonly called Malle Moto: it will be me with my toolbox and my tent, without any external assistance… And I accepted with great enthusiasm!

“I would therefore say the bar has been raised!”

His first and only Dakar to date took place in 2023, where he finished forty-seventh overall in the Rally2 category with a best daily outing of forty-fifth in Stage #9. His bike, a Honda CRF450, was prepared by RS Moto but he competed under the Lucky Explorer Gentlemen Team banner alongside Malle Moto rider Cesare Zacchetti. Founded in 2021, Lucky Explorer is a lifestyle brand by MV Agusta for off-road and adventure motorcycle riding, taking inspiration from the Lucky Explorer Cagiva Elefant programme that won the 1990 and 1994 Paris–Dakar Rallies with Ed Orioli.

Jatin Jain has run every World Rally-Raid Championship round in 2024 with the exception of the biggest one. That will change when the 2025 season begins as he has been accepted for his Dakar Rally début.

Jain has regularly vied for the Road to Dakar scholarship since his W2RC début at the 2023 Sonora Rally; the RtD awards the best performing rider at each select events with free registration for Dakar. The first Indian to race at Sonora, he finished eighteenth in the National Enduro class (independent of FIM sanction) and sixth in the Road to Dakar.

He increased his calendar for 2024 and has run all three of the non-Dakar rounds to date on a Kove 450 Rally. After finishing thirty-first in the Rally2 class at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, he improved to twenty-seventh at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid.

His most recent start at the Desafío Ruta 40 in June proved to be a misadventure even before it began. Jain had arrived in Argentina to learn his return flights were cancelled, forcing him to rebook them, then had a rock knock the chain guide off his bike in Stage #1 and lose him time. A crash on the third day resulted in an engine failure that ended his race.

Despite the disappointing end, his efforts overall did not unnoticed by the Amaury Sport Organisation and he received his acceptance letter in late July.

Wyatt Miller might be only twelve years old, but he shined in his first ever foray into short course. Competing in Championship Off-Road‘s Dirt City Motorplex round last weekend, the micro sprint racer at recorded a pair of second-place finishes in both Pro SPEC races.

“Three spots better than I thought I could do,” Miller quipped on the podium after the Saturday event.

A fourth-generation racer of the great Earnhardt family and the reigning Tulsa Shootout winner, Miller started the Saturday race fifth. Dylan Parsons, Nick Visser, and Chris Van Den Elzen battled for the lead for much of the day, quickly building a gap over Miller and the field, before a caution bunched them back up.

Miller found a run in the second half and caught both Visser and Van Den Elzen. Parsons was too far away for Miller to catch him, but he staved off Van Den Elzen’s efforts to secure second.

Sunday saw similar events as Miller started midpack, got past Hunter VanZile for fourth, then had to close in on Visser, Parsons, and Van Den Elzen. Van Den Elzen was taken out of contention when Visser lost control in turn two and Van Den Elzen collided with him, causing the latter to suffer a flat tyre. Visser recovered, never losing the top spot despite the spin, and led the rest of the way while Miller battled Parsons before passing him on the inside with four laps remaining.

Daniel Ricciardo has been pleased with the turnaround he’s had during his 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship after a strong finish before the summer break.

Ricciardo scored his first points of season at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, having an excellent race in the Sprint, finishing fourth. Another rough patch followed but since the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, many feel that Ricciardo has been the better driver at Visa Cash App RB scoring points in Montreal, Austria and Spa. He also had good races in Spain and Hungary, with strategy and ultimately the pace of the car costing him.

Ricciardo spoke to F1TV about his season so far and the upwards trajectory that he is currently on: “I would have loved the whole first half [of the season] to have been strong – it wasn’t the case. I obviously had my struggles in the first kind of half of [this] half, and it was clear I needed to pick it up and find something.

“[When] I look back, since Montreal, the pressure probably started to build, [but] – other than Silverstone, which was a bit of an outlier – I feel like the races have been much more in line with what I’m capable of, and I feel like I’m leaving the weekend feeling much more content, fulfilled.

“It’s important I was able to do that, and [it] leaves me entering the break with much more of a spring in my step. Looking ahead, yeah, [I’m] excited. Excited to get back and get out there in Zandvoort.”

After a frustrating ten months, Eryk Goczał is finally atop a Challenger podium after dominating the Baja España Aragón in Spain.

Goczał set the fastest time among the fifty-seven Challenger entries across the Prologue and both timed stages, good for fourth overall in FIA World Baja Cup behind a trio of Ultimate cars. This sweep came despite some of the most stacked competition he’s faced to date that included 2023 FIA European Baja Cup class vice champion Ghislain de Mévius and the great Nasser Al-Attiyah, the latter running his maiden Challenger race and the thrice defending Baja Aragón outright winner.

The 2023 Dakar Rally SSV winner, Goczał graduated to Challenger ahead of the 2024 edition, winning a stage in his class début at the Rallye du Maroc before retiring with a mechanical failure the next day and being reprimanded for violating Moroccan law regarding starting a fire for help. He then dominated the first half of the 2024 Dakar before being disqualified midway for a noncompliant clutch. That was his last race to date before Aragón.

“In Baja Aragon I wanted to race against the best – especially the one best… and we did it,” wrote Goczał. “We defeated Nasser Al-Attiyah and I’m proud of it. These results show that step by step we are doing better and better and we are getting closer to fulfilling our dream, i.e. to the top class – T1. We still have a lot of work to do, we know where to improve, so we are already starting preparations for the next starts.”

While he came up short, de Mévius’ brother Guillaume de Mévius won the race in the FIA World Baja Cup ahead of Rokas Baciuška. It was Guillaume’s first Aragón win but the sixth for his new navigator Mathieu Baumel, who won his first five with Al-Attiyah. Baciuška, the World Rally-Raid Championship’s Challenger points leader, was running his third Baja in Ultimate with plans of moving up to the category full time in 2025.

After a decorated decade in rally raid, Sam Sunderland is hanging up his helmet. On Wednesday, Sunderland confirmed his retirement from professional bike racing, ending a career that saw him win the Dakar Rally twice and the inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship.

Sunderland had struggled with medical snags in recent years. His final rally, the Desafío Ruta 40 in June, ended after three stages due to blurred vision in his eyes. The same ailment forced him to exit the 2023 Rallye du Maroc, ending a disappointing campaign that was supposed to be his Dakar and W2RC title defence. His hopes of a Dakar repeat that year were crushed by broken shoulder after crashing on the Dakar’s first leg, when he broke his ankle in a testing accident the day before the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

“It is with gratitude, humility, a bit of sadness, but without regret, that I announce my retirement from motorcycle racing after having a career that I dreamed of once upon a time,” said Sunderland. “From winning two world championships to my two Dakar victories, it’s been an incredible run. I would like to thank everyone that has been a part of this chapter and I’m looking forward to staying close to the team and playing a part in supporting their race efforts in the future.”

A Briton who lives in Dubai, he broke into cross-country rally in 2009 after his motocross career was halted by injury. After excelling in the United Arab Emirates’ national championship and starring at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, he made his Dakar début in 2012. He notched his first stage win two years later as a member of Honda’s factory rally raid programme before joining KTM’s team later in 2014. In 2017, he became the first British competitor to win the Dakar.

Sunderland’s luck was up and down at the Dakar. He reached the end just four of eleven times, but those finishes saw him win in 2017 and 2022 and place third in 2019 and 2021. Following his 2022 victory, he retired from his two final Dakars, with the 2024 edition ending due to a mechanical issue in Stage #3.