Wei Han, Neels Theric dominate 2024 Taklimakan Rally

Even with their reorganisation over the spring, Kove Moto was not going to miss a beat when the 2024 Taklimakan Rally rolled around. Neels Theric and Deng Liansong, the remaining members of the factory team, won nearly all of the nine bike stages with the former claiming six en route to his first career rally raid win.

Theric, a factory rider for Kove since 2023 who has competed in the World Rally-Raid Championship, set the tone early by winning three of the first four stages (Stage #2 was cancelled for bikes after many competitors struggled on the first day) before Liansong had his time in the spotlight. The victory is the first in an major rally for Kove, whose CEO Zhang Xue departed in March and prompted a restructuring of the company; five riders raced a Kove 450 Rally, with Theric and Liansong on the new 450 Rally EX.

Off-road legend Robby Gordon and his son Max Gordon returned to China to compete in the T3 class with their burgeoning SPEED UTV brand. Max was the fastest in the Prologue and ran top ten in the category before rolling into a ditch in Stage #9. 2023 T1.2 winner Tao Pengfei pulled him out and he was unharmed, though his race was rendered null. The elder Gordon finished ninth in T3.

“The Taklimakan is very similar to a Dakar,” said Robby, a Dakar veteran. “Stages #1, #2, and #3 were were very, very, very tough. Last couple of stages really fit our vehicle. This is more of Arizona-, California-style riding. The first three days were very silty and very, very deep soft sand; I think the first three stages of the Taklimakan was tougher than the Dakar. The last couple stages were pretty easy, was kind of cool with the ice and the snow yesterday.

“Unfortunately, we got all the cars really muddy and dirty before the final special, but besides that, it was some great terrain up there, some great villages up on top of the hill. That was a lot of fun. I think it’s a good run for us. We’re very, very happy with with our result. It’s great that [the rally] has twenty years going. We’re excited to be part of it. I look forward to come back next year and competing. I think we’ll bring a big car.”

T1+, the highest subcategory in rally raid, swept the top five and occupied seven of the top ten spots. Wei Han notched his fourth Taklimakan triumph in a Red-Lined REVO, a new T1+ car introduced in late 2023; Wei has a partnership with manufacturer Red-Lined Motorsport, which entailed building a new T1+ for the 2024 Dakar in January. Sun Ping, a fellow Dakar competitor, was runner-up in a Prodrive Hunter ahead of a fleet of JJ3 cars. Unlike the foreign Prodrive and Red-Lined brands, the JJ3 is built in China by JJsport.

“This is a major win for us as a manufacturer and a particularly rewarding one. Our REVO T1+ V8 won in a super competitive field of Ultimate rally raid cars, which included 22 T1+ machines from most of the leading international manufacturers,” commented Red-Lined boss Terence Marsh. “The Taklimakan Rally is regarded as the second biggest rally raid race in the world after the Dakar, so a massive shout-out once again to Wei Han and his HanWei Motorsport team on what is a truly incredible achievement. We are extremely proud, to say the very least.”

JJ3 driver Tao Yongming briefly took the overall lead with a Stage #3 win before losing it back to Wei the next day, the latter winning despite getting stuck thrice and having to drive without a clutch. The CR6 of Zhang Huijun won Stage #9; Century Racing, another international rally raid manufacturer, also sent three of their premier CR7 T1+ cars, with Liu Yatuan scoring a top ten.

The race spanned 4,377.5 kilometres from Kashgar to Aksu. Stage #6 was cancelled due to massive sandstorms. The day before was the longest leg distance-wise at nearly 700 km as it ran along the Keriya River, while the final day was only 23.35 km in terms of timed sections as Wei and Theric iced their victories.

“There was no suspense in this stage,” Wei stated about the final leg, “but I think the biggest charm of cross-country racing is that it is always full of unknowns until the last one, so we still had to be very careful to complete the last stage today.”

Stage winners

Class winners

Final results

Car

Bike