Dakar Rally Champion Motorcycle Model 1979-2022
In 1979, a group of motorcycle riders followed Zeli Sabin and set out from Paris to cross the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert, across numerous special extreme terrain, and finally completed the first Paris-Dakar Rally.
Over the past 40 years, as the influence of Dakar Motorcycle Group has expanded year by year, this event called "The Challenge of the Brave" has attracted the world's best motorcycle manufacturers to challenge and fight for the championship!
So, do you know what the first model to win the championship looks like?
Today, let's review the motorcycle models that have won the championship in Dakar Rally since its establishment!
2022
KTM 450
Rally Factory Replica
After proving that its 450Rally is one of the best rally cars of the century, KTM has been studying how to make the car better display its performance in Dakar. The KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica in 2022 is not much different from the KTM 450 Rally, but it has been adjusted jointly by three KTM drivers and has made certain improvements.
2020/2021
Honda CRF450
Since Honda won the Dakar Rally championship in 1989, in the following 31 years, the Honda team that ran to continue to win the championship has often failed. However, the emperor has not failed. Through optimization and improvement year after year, Honda has finally fulfilled its dream of winning the Dakar Rally championship for 31 years in 2020, and at the same time completed its championship defense in 2021!
2011-2019 (except 2018)
KTM 450 Rally
To be precise, in fact, from 2011 to 2019, KTM models have been firmly occupying the throne of the champion model of the Dakar Rally motorcycle group with a "monopoly" trend.
In particular, the KTM 450 Rally Raplica, the champion model in 2018, has an additional Replica. As for why, please see the following.
2018
KTM 450 Rally Replica
450 Rally REPLICA is a copy of Dakar racing car that is infinitely close to its performance. Its launch aims to provide "tickets" for individual drivers who do not have the support of the factory team.
In 2018, the KTM team's Walker drove this model and won the championship of the motorcycle group, proving the possibility of this car winning the championship.
Some episodes about the Dakar competition system:
In 2010, the sponsor of the Dakar Rally that year issued a regulation that the participating vehicles with a displacement of more than 450cc will be forced to use a filter hole of the engine oil inlet pipe to reduce the engine horsepower to 450.
In 2011, the organizers of the Dakar Rally further stipulated that the motorcycle group rules have changed and the engine displacement should not exceed 450cc, which is the first time that the upper limit of the motorcycle displacement has been restricted in history.
Before that, the crazy people of KTM still monopolized the championship of the Dakar Rally motorcycle group.
Let's move on:
2007/2009/2010
KTM 690 Rally
KTM, which was born in Austria and founded nearly a hundred years ago (1934), has continued its R&D philosophy in its development process: these crazy Austrians have invested more in the research of medium and large displacement off-road vehicles than anyone else.
It is also because of this crazy investment that KTM has been the champion of the Dakar Rally Motorcycle Group.
2001-2006
KTM LC4 660R
The LC4 single-cylinder engine, which originated in 1987, is matched with KTM, a 660cc special vehicle specially designed for Dakar Rally, and it bursts out with amazing horsepower and "resistance" quality that is no inferior to other competitors.
The car ended BMW's two years of defending its title in 2001. At the same time, it also started the myth of KTM's 19 consecutive years of Dakar champion "monopoly".
2002
KTM LC8 950R
1999/2000
BMW F650RR
Guess whether the engine of this car is horizontal bar or double cylinder?
Under the inertia thinking, you may not be sure, but with some confidence, answer: double cylinder?
Wrong answer. This "Don't touch me" F650RR engine is a water-cooled four-stroke single-cylinder engine!
The birth of this model included too many bold attempts by BMW. After Richard Sainte won the championship in the Dakar Rally in 1999 by driving the F650 RR, people found that some components were only enough for him to finish the race, and some had shown very serious wear.
1992-1998 (except 1994)
Yamaha YZE850T
And
1991
Yamaha YZE750T
In the last century, the Dakar Rally was a battleground for Yamaha and BMW to compete for the championship. Since the arrival of Mr. Dakar - Stephen Peter Hansel as the motorcyclist of Yamaha, Yamaha was unstoppable in the Yamaha race in the 1990s: Peter Hansel won the championship of the bicycle category with Yamaha YZE 750T and YZE 850T in 1991, 92, 93, 95, 97 and 98.
1990/1994
Cagiva Elefant 900
Cagiva Elephant 900 is a commercially unsuccessful model; However, with Dukadi air-cooled V2 engine, Edi Orioli won the Dakar Rally twice in 1990 and 1994.
1988/1989
Honda NXR800V
In the 1988 season, the updated NXR changed from 750 to 800.
In 1989, the young racing driver Peter Hansel showed his extraordinary strength, but the racing driver Giles Lalay fought bravely and made great achievements. With his rich experience and strong fighting horse NXR800V, he won four consecutive championships for Honda!
1981/1983/1984/1985：
BMW R80G/S
In fact, BMW in the last century also has strong off-road genes.
It is worth mentioning that this car was actually born by chance, but it opened a generation of "Dakar dynasty" of BMW: R80 G/S was almost created by engineer R ü diger Gutsche by accident. At that time, he built a specially modified BMW R75/5 and used it to participate in the international six-day trials, which is also one of the most difficult cross-country motorcycle races in the world.
By 1980, the mass-production version of the car was ready. In 1981, Hubert Aurier won the Paris-Dakar Rally with an R80 G/S, and in 1983, the car won the race again. Then Gaston Rahier won the Dakar Rally with an R80 G/S in 1984.
These great successes have made the R80 G/S forever recorded in the history of motor sports. It has also demonstrated the ultimate ability of this model to a generation of motorcyclists. Therefore, the R80 G/S and its successor models appear in almost all countries.
1982
Honda XR500
Honda began to participate in the competition at the beginning of Dakar's founding, and has been investing in the research of vehicle models at no cost during the period. Honda XR550 is equipped with an air-cooled 497cc single-cylinder four-valve engine with a compression ratio of 8.6:1 and maximum power 26.3KW@6500 Rpm, maximum torque 41.4N.m@5500 Turn, low twist and strong. The dry weight is 123Kg, the tank volume is 12L, and the maximum speed is 148KM/h.
This is the product of Honda in 82 years, 41 years ago. Although this is the display of all the technological achievements of Honda in that year, it is a bit of a product made at no cost, but the engine parameters, even today, are not worse than some domestic car manufacturers.
1979/1980
Yamaha XT500
The man in the picture is Cyril Neveu, the champion of the first Dakar Rally, and also the first "King of the brave". He rode the XT500 and won the first Dakar laurel for the Yamaha brand in history.
Yamaha in the era of foam economy in Japan is based on various fields of manufacturing industry. The XT500 produced by it carries the hope of Hillier and Yamaha as a whole, and won the championship of the motorcycle group of the previous two Dakar Rally. At the same time, the XT500 has also become an undisputed rally predator in the heyday of Yamaha.
After reading these previous champion models, we can see that Yamaha is the first champion motorcycle brand in Dakar's history. BMW and Honda also won the championship many times in the 1980s and 1990s.
However, from 2001 to 2019, KTM from Austria rose rapidly in Dakar and won the championship for 18 consecutive times, becoming the most successful motorcycle brand in Dakar.
Over the past 40 years, as the influence of Dakar Motorcycle Group has expanded year by year, this event called "The Challenge of the Brave" has attracted the world's best motorcycle manufacturers to challenge and fight for the championship!
So, do you know what the first model to win the championship looks like?
Today, let's review the motorcycle models that have won the championship in Dakar Rally since its establishment!
2022
KTM 450
Rally Factory Replica
After proving that its 450Rally is one of the best rally cars of the century, KTM has been studying how to make the car better display its performance in Dakar. The KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica in 2022 is not much different from the KTM 450 Rally, but it has been adjusted jointly by three KTM drivers and has made certain improvements.
2020/2021
Honda CRF450
Since Honda won the Dakar Rally championship in 1989, in the following 31 years, the Honda team that ran to continue to win the championship has often failed. However, the emperor has not failed. Through optimization and improvement year after year, Honda has finally fulfilled its dream of winning the Dakar Rally championship for 31 years in 2020, and at the same time completed its championship defense in 2021!
2011-2019 (except 2018)
KTM 450 Rally
To be precise, in fact, from 2011 to 2019, KTM models have been firmly occupying the throne of the champion model of the Dakar Rally motorcycle group with a "monopoly" trend.
In particular, the KTM 450 Rally Raplica, the champion model in 2018, has an additional Replica. As for why, please see the following.
2018
KTM 450 Rally Replica
450 Rally REPLICA is a copy of Dakar racing car that is infinitely close to its performance. Its launch aims to provide "tickets" for individual drivers who do not have the support of the factory team.
In 2018, the KTM team's Walker drove this model and won the championship of the motorcycle group, proving the possibility of this car winning the championship.
Some episodes about the Dakar competition system:
In 2010, the sponsor of the Dakar Rally that year issued a regulation that the participating vehicles with a displacement of more than 450cc will be forced to use a filter hole of the engine oil inlet pipe to reduce the engine horsepower to 450.
In 2011, the organizers of the Dakar Rally further stipulated that the motorcycle group rules have changed and the engine displacement should not exceed 450cc, which is the first time that the upper limit of the motorcycle displacement has been restricted in history.
Before that, the crazy people of KTM still monopolized the championship of the Dakar Rally motorcycle group.
Let's move on:
2007/2009/2010
KTM 690 Rally
KTM, which was born in Austria and founded nearly a hundred years ago (1934), has continued its R&D philosophy in its development process: these crazy Austrians have invested more in the research of medium and large displacement off-road vehicles than anyone else.
It is also because of this crazy investment that KTM has been the champion of the Dakar Rally Motorcycle Group.
2001-2006
KTM LC4 660R
The LC4 single-cylinder engine, which originated in 1987, is matched with KTM, a 660cc special vehicle specially designed for Dakar Rally, and it bursts out with amazing horsepower and "resistance" quality that is no inferior to other competitors.
The car ended BMW's two years of defending its title in 2001. At the same time, it also started the myth of KTM's 19 consecutive years of Dakar champion "monopoly".
2002
KTM LC8 950R
Probably for KTM, motorcycle is not the most wild thing, only more wild.
1999/2000
BMW F650RR
Guess whether the engine of this car is horizontal bar or double cylinder?
Under the inertia thinking, you may not be sure, but with some confidence, answer: double cylinder?
Wrong answer. This "Don't touch me" F650RR engine is a water-cooled four-stroke single-cylinder engine!
The birth of this model included too many bold attempts by BMW. After Richard Sainte won the championship in the Dakar Rally in 1999 by driving the F650 RR, people found that some components were only enough for him to finish the race, and some had shown very serious wear.
1992-1998 (except 1994)
Yamaha YZE850T
And
1991
Yamaha YZE750T
In the last century, the Dakar Rally was a battleground for Yamaha and BMW to compete for the championship. Since the arrival of Mr. Dakar - Stephen Peter Hansel as the motorcyclist of Yamaha, Yamaha was unstoppable in the Yamaha race in the 1990s: Peter Hansel won the championship of the bicycle category with Yamaha YZE 750T and YZE 850T in 1991, 92, 93, 95, 97 and 98.
1990/1994
Cagiva Elefant 900
Cagiva Elephant 900 is a commercially unsuccessful model; However, with Dukadi air-cooled V2 engine, Edi Orioli won the Dakar Rally twice in 1990 and 1994.
1988/1989
Honda NXR800V
1986/1987
Honda NXR750V
In the 1988 season, the updated NXR changed from 750 to 800.
In 1989, the young racing driver Peter Hansel showed his extraordinary strength, but the racing driver Giles Lalay fought bravely and made great achievements. With his rich experience and strong fighting horse NXR800V, he won four consecutive championships for Honda!
1981/1983/1984/1985：
BMW R80G/S
In fact, BMW in the last century also has strong off-road genes.
It is worth mentioning that this car was actually born by chance, but it opened a generation of "Dakar dynasty" of BMW: R80 G/S was almost created by engineer R ü diger Gutsche by accident. At that time, he built a specially modified BMW R75/5 and used it to participate in the international six-day trials, which is also one of the most difficult cross-country motorcycle races in the world.
By 1980, the mass-production version of the car was ready. In 1981, Hubert Aurier won the Paris-Dakar Rally with an R80 G/S, and in 1983, the car won the race again. Then Gaston Rahier won the Dakar Rally with an R80 G/S in 1984.
These great successes have made the R80 G/S forever recorded in the history of motor sports. It has also demonstrated the ultimate ability of this model to a generation of motorcyclists. Therefore, the R80 G/S and its successor models appear in almost all countries.
1982
Honda XR500
Honda began to participate in the competition at the beginning of Dakar's founding, and has been investing in the research of vehicle models at no cost during the period. Honda XR550 is equipped with an air-cooled 497cc single-cylinder four-valve engine with a compression ratio of 8.6:1 and maximum power 26.3KW@6500 Rpm, maximum torque 41.4N.m@5500 Turn, low twist and strong. The dry weight is 123Kg, the tank volume is 12L, and the maximum speed is 148KM/h.
This is the product of Honda in 82 years, 41 years ago. Although this is the display of all the technological achievements of Honda in that year, it is a bit of a product made at no cost, but the engine parameters, even today, are not worse than some domestic car manufacturers.
1979/1980
Yamaha XT500
The man in the picture is Cyril Neveu, the champion of the first Dakar Rally, and also the first "King of the brave". He rode the XT500 and won the first Dakar laurel for the Yamaha brand in history.
Yamaha in the era of foam economy in Japan is based on various fields of manufacturing industry. The XT500 produced by it carries the hope of Hillier and Yamaha as a whole, and won the championship of the motorcycle group of the previous two Dakar Rally. At the same time, the XT500 has also become an undisputed rally predator in the heyday of Yamaha.
After reading these previous champion models, we can see that Yamaha is the first champion motorcycle brand in Dakar's history. BMW and Honda also won the championship many times in the 1980s and 1990s.
However, from 2001 to 2019, KTM from Austria rose rapidly in Dakar and won the championship for 18 consecutive times, becoming the most successful motorcycle brand in Dakar.