Dakar 2025 starts in Saudi Arabia on 3 January and the big news is that Botswana’s 2024 World Rally Raid Moto Champion, second on Dakar 2024 and former triple South African Champion Ross Branch will carry number 1 on his Tork Craft-backed Hero MotoSports 450 Rally.

Getting back to the big time, 2024 bike winner, Honda returns with a five-machine army for ‘24 winner, American Ricky Brabec, compatriot Skyler Howes, Chilean Pablo Quintanilla, the ever-present Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, and quick Spaniard Tosha Schareina. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is back at Dakar as ever and in spite of the Austrian manufacturer’s fiscal woes. The bikes will be ridden by GasGas refugee Australia Daniel Sanders and Argentine brothers, former Husqvarna man Luciano and regular rider in orange, Kevin Benavides.

Branch is backed by Chilean José Ignacio Cornejo and German rider Sebastian Bühler in the Hero camp, while Spain’s Lorenzo Santolino and Portuguese rider Rui Goncalves will fly the Sherco flag. There are three single-bike entries for minnow bike makers, a Kove 450 for US flyer Mason Klein, a Rieju 450 with Bolivian Daniel Nosiglia Jager riding, and UAE rider Mohammed Balooshi in the saddle for Fantic.

Covering almost 8,000 kilometres including over 5000 km of desert racing over two weeks, Dakar 2024 starts with the Prologue at Bisha in Saudi Arabia on Friday 3 January. Race proper follows from the 4th with fourteen days of racing covering twelve stages including a 48-hour 950 km ‘chrono’ marathon test. Dakar 2025 novelties include five stages with separate routes for cars and bikes, while one stage will feature a mass start. Organizers promise a tougher route with much navigation.

Branch will face the Dakar Rally carrying the #1 on his bike for the first time in his career, after clinching his first-ever rally-raid world championship (W2RC) title this year. Speaking on the official Dakar website, the Hero MotoSports rider highlighted the achievement of finishing second in the 2024 edition, which paved the way for his W2RC championship win:

Ross Branch: Finishing on the podium of the Dakar has always been our goal, and it was a dream come true in the last edition. As for winning the W2RC title, there are no words to express the magnitude of this incredible moment. I’m delighted to see all the team’s hard work come to fruition, and witnessing everyone’s happiness is an achievement in itself. I’m lucky to be part of such a passionate family! I must thank everyone who believed in me and gave me this opportunity. It’s truly extraordinary! It’s been a long journey, 34 years of motorbike racing. Looking ahead to 2025, I see a bright future for our young team: this is just the beginning. This W2RC victory is one of Hero’s most significant steps in the right direction, and I’m very excited about the future. The Dakar will be really good in 2025. We still have a lot of work to do to get to the top step.