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Video: 2014 Honda CRF450 Rally

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We’re having dirty thoughts here at Asphalt & Rubber, mostly as we drool over HRC’s new Dakar challenger, the 2014 Honda CRF450 Rally. Based off the Honda CRF450X enduro, HRC says that its new Honda CRF450 Rally race bike has an improved engine output, aerodynamic performance, durability, and maintenance requirements. We just think it looks like awesome in two-wheel form.

The Honda CRF450 Rally factory race bike will be the work horse for the Team HRC rally team, as it aims to unseat KTM from its Dakar Rally thrown in a few months. With zie Austrians debuting an all-new KTM 450 Rally race bike of their own, and Yamaha Racing now benefitting from the talents of Cyril Despres, HRC might have its work cutout for it. Until then, we’ll just spend some alone time with this video.

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Bikes

First Photos of the 2014 KTM 450 Rally Race Bike

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These are the first photos of the 2014 KTM 450 Rally factory race bike that Marc Coma, Kurt Caselli, and Ruben Faria will ride in the upcoming Dakar Rally in three-months time (factory rider Francisco Lopez will be on the 2013 machine). The 2014 race bike is a completely new machine from the ground up, and will make its racing debut at the OilLibya Rally of Morocco.

With the goal of winning its 13th Dakar in a row, KTM has some stiff competition for this upcoming Dakar, as former-rider Cyril Despres has defected to the Yamaha Racing team, and HRC has recently debuted its brand new 2014 Honda CRF450 Rally race bike as well.

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HRC Shows Off the 2014 Honda CRF450 Rally Race Bike

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HRC already showed us its 2014 Honda CRF450 Rally race bike earlier this year at Mugello, during the Italian GP. Announcing a five rider team, Helder Rodrigues (Portugal, age 34), Sam Sunderland (U.K., 24), Javier Pizzolito (Argentina, 33), Paulo Goncalves (Portugal, 34) and Joan Barreda (Spain, 29) will race for Big Red in the 2014 Dakar Rally and other rally events.

Improving on its 2013 design, which in-turn was based off the Honda CRF450X enduro, HRC says that the 2014 Honda CRF450 Rally has improved engine output, aerodynamic performance, durability, and maintenance requirements. It will be campaign by the Team HRC factory team, and also be made available to other rally teams as a production racer.

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Racing

KTM Readying All-New 2014 Dakar Rally Race Bike

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The 2014 Dakar Rally is still five months away, but KTM CEO Stefan Pierer has tipped the Austrian company’s hand in an interview with KTM’s official company blog. With the goal of making a lighter, slimmer, and better handling machine, KTM has been working on a ground-up redesign of its venerable adventure-racer.

Of course, KTM will still have to use a 450cc single-cylinder engine, per the Dakar Rally’s rules, but Pierer says the chassis will be significantly improved upon over the current iteration.

That goal seems easy enough, as the company CEO disclosed that the current 2013 race bike is essentially using the same chassis when The Dakar had a 600cc engine regulation for factory teams.

Modifying the old chassis to design simply to accommodate the new 450cc lump, KTM’s short-cut to building a new rally racing machine was crude, yet obviously effective.

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HRC Sets Out To Win Dakar – Announces Team & New Bike

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HRC has set its sights on winning the Dakar Rally in 2014 and today unveiled a new motorcycle and 5-man dream team here at Mugello.

The 2014 team comprises five riders: Helder Rodrigues (Portugal, age 34), Sam Sunderland (U.K., 24), Javier Pizzolito (Argentina, 33), Paulo Goncalves (Portugal, 34) and Joan Barreda (Spain, 29), shown above left to right while being interviewed by Team Director Martino Bianchi.

The 2014 Dakar begins on January 5th, 2014. In addition to familiar territory in Argentina and Chile, the 6th South American Dakar will add stages in Bolivia and finish on January 18th in Valparaiso, Chile, after 8,000 kilometers of racing.

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Cyril Despres Will Ride with Yamaha in the 2014 Dakar Rally

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When it happened, we were shocked to learn that Cyril Despres was left out of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s 2013 team announcement, though we American have a silver lining in the news as the five-time Dakar Rally winner was replaced by our own Kurt Caselli. However, with that upheaval, we were left to speculate as to the fate of the Dakar master.

Would Despres retire from rally racing, finishing his career at its peak? Or, would the Frenchman defect from KTM to another team, like say Honda’s upstart rally effort? Well, now we have the answer, as Cyril Despres has been outed as having joined the Yamaha Motor France rally team for the 2014 & 2015 Dakar Rallies.

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Racing

2014 Dakar Rally Route Replaces Peru with Bolivia

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For the sixth year in a row, the Dakar Rally will race in South America, though the iconic rally race is mixing things up, and is dropping its route through Peru for one that includes Bolivia instead. The Dakar will keep Argentina and Chile on its 2014 course schedule, and the two countries will comprise the majority of the race’s torturous test of its competitors.

The 2014 Dakar Rally will have longer special stages, as well as several marathon stages (stages where only the competitor can do mechanical work on his/her machine, not the mechanics). Taking riders  and drivers though Argentina’s northwest canyons and sandy valleys, it should be an especially grueling edition of the historic race.

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Husqvarna Rally Team by Speedbrain – 2013 Dakar Rally

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With the sale of Husqvarna to Pierer Industrie AG, the 2013 Dakar Rally marks the last time that the BMW Group will collaborate with Speedbrain GmbH for its rally and off-road racing duties — a partnership that has lasted since 2006.

Helping commemorate their last outing together, the Speedbrain’s factory-backed Husqvarna team has put together a little tribute video of its final Dakar campaign. Will the team live on with another brand? Only time will tell, but it would seem BMW’s off-road racing days are over.

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Cyril Despres Claims Fifth Dakar Rally Win

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Wrapping up two weeks of racing, the 2013 Dakar Rally concluded this weekend in Santiago, Chile. His fifth Dakar win, Cyril Despres once again claimed victory in the iconic rally race, and though he was tipped heavily to win after Marc Coma announced that he would be sidelined due to injury, Despres’s win was anything but a sure-thing as the stages progressed. Seeing strong rides from factory-backed Yamaha and Husqvarna teams, Despres even got pressure from his fellow KTM riders over the 14 racing stages.

Despite finishing the Dakar Rally with a 10 minute 43 second overall lead, Despres found himself on the wrong-side of the time sheets during several stages, and even had to replace his motor during the “marathon” weekend, where riders are not allowed any mechanical help from their support crew (Despres got more than a little help from his fellow KTM teammates though). His second Dakar Rally win in a row, and his fifth career-win, Despres now sports two-more Dakar victories than rival Coma — deficit that surely will be contested next year.

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Video: Who is Kurt Caselli?

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After winning Stage Seven of the 2013 Dakar Rally, the A.S.O. has started to give American Kurt Caselli a bit more love on its made-for-YouTube video updates. Replacing the injured Marc Coma on the factory KTM team, Caselli may be a rookie to The Dakar, but he is no stranger to high-achievements in some of motorcycling’s most brutal events. A WORCS, Hare & Hound, and ISDE winner, Caselli was also part of the second-place finishing KTM team that tackled the Baja 1000 in 2012.

The experience has helped the California native to adapt to the South American race, though not all the learning has been easy. Having a horrible ninth stage, Caselli dropped from 11th in the standings to 39th, with navigational errors costing him dearly. All a part of the learning process for this Dakar rookie, Caselli has several more days to overcome his time penalties and improve his finishing position.

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Dakar Rally – Stage 7: American Kurt Caselli Takes First Win

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A last-minute replacement to the injured Marc Coma in the 2013 Dakar Rally, the expectations around race-rookie Kurt Caselli were purposefully modest. Filling big shoes at KTM’s factory-backed Dakar team, the Austrian brand started the two-week long race with hopes for competitive finishes from the Ameircan hare-scrambler, but today they got much, much more: a stage win in the seventh day of racing.

The fastest man through Stage Seven, Caselli finished the timed special in 1’51.31 on his KTM 450 Rally race bike, which averaged 117 km/h over the course. The stage win result leaves Caselli in eighth place overall, with second through eighth dominated by KTM riders, save David Casteu who maintains 3rd place for Yamaha. Elsewhere in the KTM camp, race-favorite Cyril Despres suffered mechanical issues, and dropped to fifth overall after his 34th place finish in the stage. He is 14 minutes behind race-leader Olivier Pain.

“Everything for me was fine. I’m learning the navigation better and I can understand it,” said Caselli. “This is my first Dakar so I’m just learning a lot. I didn’t have any idea what to expect when I first came here. It’s fun and I’m enjoying it.” Enjoy it indeed, congrats Kurt! Photos of Caselli from Dakar are after the jump.

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