Honda Dakar contender revealed

This is Honda’s all-new CRF450 Rally Paris-Dakar desert racer as officially unveiled at the Cologne Show.

Based on Honda’s current CRF450X enduro and developed in conjunction with HRC, the Honda Racing Corporation, the bike will make it’s race debut in the Morocco Rally starting October 15.

Honda has signed an impressive five-strong rider line-up including Brit Sam Sunderland, who’ll shake-down the bike under race conditions in Morocco, before launching a full-on attack on the famous Paris-Dakar in January next year.

The other riders in the squad are 11-time US Baja 1000 champ Jonny Campbell, Helder Rodrigues (Portugal), Felipe Zanol (Brazil) and Javier Pizzolito (Argentina).

The new bike marks Honda’s first official works entry into the race since 1989. The factory first entered the legendary desert event in 1981 when Cyril Neveu won aboard the XR550.