Andrew Houlihan returning to Dakar in 2025 in Malle Moto

Andrew Houlihan is set to make his return to the Dakar Rally in 2025 after three years away from the race. He received his acceptance letter from the Amaury Sport Organisation last week.

Houlihan intends to compete in the Original by Motul class, a subcategory of Rally2 for riders without assistance from teams.

He made his Dakar début in 2021, where he finished fiftieth overall. He returned in 2022 following a tumultuous year in which many of his scheduled races and even his trip to Saudi Arabia for the race were impacted by COVID-19; however, his second attempt ended halfway.

Despite hopes to run the Dakar for five straight years, Houlihan did not take part in the 2023 edition. Nevertheless, he remained involved by competing in the FIM Bajas World Cup where he finished sixth in points and runner-up for the Veterans Trophy; he had led the latter, reserved for riders over the age of 45, before a ruptured quadricep tendon sidelined him for the final two races which allowed Pedro Bianchi Prata to leapfrog him for the title.

He began the 2024 season by finishing ninth at the Saudi Baja; Houlihan elected to enter the race at the last minute after being cleared by doctors. This was followed by a seventeenth at the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura.

As an Australian mainly competing in Africa and Eurasia, Houlihan has had to make long travels to get to races. For example, his summer stretch last season entailed going from his home in New South Wales to Melbourne, flew to Qatar, took another flight to Barcelona for the Baja España Aragón, then back to Australia for a week-long break before heading back to Europe for the Hungarian Baja. To this end, his rally experience includes racing in events like the Hellas Rally Raid in Greece, where he was hospitalised for a month after a massive crash in 2018, the Rallye du Maroc and Pan Africa Rally in 2019, and the Africa Eco Race in 2020.

A statement from Motorcycling Australia begins, “Australia has its first entry into the 2025 Dakar Rally – seasoned Albury desert campaigner Andrew Houlihan!

“He’ll compete in the brutal and creature comfort-less ‘Original By Motul’ (formerly Malle Moto) class, too, where’s there’s no outside support, mechanical assistance or any help. Instead, Andrew’s ‘armoury’ will consist of a tent, sleeping bag and 80-litre crate to carry spare parts in. In addition, he’ll do his own mechanical work and repairs.

“And the course won’t offer any respite: Dakar 2025 will have more sand dunes than ever before in the Ar Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter, which spans 650,000 square kilometres.

“Andrew is now actively seeking support to help him get onto the startline for the January 3-17 event. For more information and details on the different tiers of sponsorship packages, email Andrew at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”

The 2025 Dakar Rally runs on 3–17 January.