Introduction of GasGas factory team in 2023 Dakar Rally
GasGas is a young motorcycle factory founded in 1985 and headquartered in Spain. It was wholly owned by KTM's group in 2019, and it has been enjoying unprecedented vitality ever since. GasGas began to participate in the Dakar Rally in 2020, when the Spanish female biker Liaissans took part in the race. In 2021, the combination of Sans and Sanders took part in the race. In 2022, the champion biker Sunderland, who was originally in the KTM factory team, joined the GasGas factory team, and formed the Shuangsang team with Sanders, winning the first Dakar championship title for GasGas in the brand history.
The good fortune of GasGas is far beyond Dakar. In 2022, it was really blooming everywhere. Two Spanish bikers, Guevara and Garcia, won the championship and runner-up bikers of the year, the best team and the best bike manufacturer awards for GasGas in Moto3, while Andre Verona brought back the annual championship of cross-country endurance race for GasGas. In 2023, GasGas will go further and enter the MotoGP group, becoming the third bike factory after KTM and Honda to enter all three track racing groups.
The Dakar lineup of GasGas in 2023 has maintained the combination of Sunderland and Sanders. Their outstanding performance on the field has also won the official sponsorship of Red Bull for the team.
No. 1 biker Sam Sunderland: inspirational life from KTM clerk to Dakar champion
Dakar's best achievements: 2017 and 2022 champion, 2019 and 2021 second runner-up
Achievements in 2022: Dakar champion, Abu Dhabi champion, Morocco and Andalusia 5th, annual total points champion
Nationality: UK
Height: 1.79 meters
Weight: 75kg
Sunderland completed its first show in Dakar in 2012, and has entered the competition for the 10th time in 2023. This is an experienced veteran who has won two championships. There is a very inspiring story behind him. Sunderland was infatuated with motorcycles since childhood, but a training accident at the age of 16 almost ended his dream of becoming a professional biker. At the age of 19, his trip to Dubai became a turning point in his life. He fell in love with desert biking there, and moved to the United Arab Emirates to work in the local KTM store. In 2011, he participated in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge as an amateur biker, and unexpectedly defeated a number of famous bikers to win two stage championships. In 2012, he made further efforts to participate in the Dakar Rally, and was favored by Honda and KTM respectively in 13 and 14 years, successfully fulfilling the dream of a professional biker.
In 2017, Sunderland won the first Dakar championship in its career, and in 2019, it won the championship of the annual total score of the FIM Rally Championship, ranking the top of professional rally bikers. In 2022, with the help of KTM, Sunderland transferred from KTM factory team to GasGas factory team. It not only won the Dakar Rally championship and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge championship, but also beat Honda biker Brabeck with an absolute advantage of 26 points to win the annual total points championship. In 2023, Sunderland will replace the No. 1 number plate representing the defending champion for the second time and come to Dakar for the 10th time. He knows that No. 1 will definitely be a double-edged sword, because he was forced to withdraw from the race after hurting his back in the fourth stage when using No. 1 in 2018
No. 18 biker Daniel Sanders: The talented teenager is returning from injury and aims to finish the race
Dakar Best Performance: 4th in 2021
Achievements in 2022: champion of Dakar unfinished race and Khata Desert race
Nationality: Australia
Height: 1.8m
Weight: 85 kg
Melbourne boy Sanders can definitely be regarded as a gifted teenager in the field of rally bikes. He participated in Dakar for the first time in 2021, and won the 4th overall score and the Best Newcomer Award. People often compare Saunders with Toby Price, his Australian hometown, with the same over-shoulder hair and the same express biker. However, in 2022, he was unlucky. At the end of the first half of Dakar, he had already won two stage championships, ranking third in the total score. However, he broke his left elbow and wrist on the first stage in the second half, and had to withdraw from the competition. More unfortunately, he was anxious to return to the field so that his recovery after the first operation was not smooth. Although he won the championship of the hata desert race in his motherland, he had to undergo a second operation after the race. For this reason, he spent 9 months and missed almost all the major events of the year. So far, he has basically recovered from his injury. He is very aware that it is difficult to recover to his previous competitive state in a short time, but he is still ready to meet the challenge of Dakar. His goal is to reach the finish line smoothly.