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Sam Sunderland can call himself a two-time Dakar Rally winner after today’s final stage of the iconic race.

The Brit finished third in Friday’s Stage 12 timed section, which was enough to clear him by almost four-minutes from his next competitor, Pablo Quintanilla.

The day marks a bit of history as well, as Sunderland’s result gives GasGas its first Dakar Rally, though the machine is largely a rebadged KTM 450 Rally motorcycle. For those who are unaware, GasGas became part of KTM’s business group in 2019.

Our friends across the pond got a surprise today, as the Honda CRF300L Rally broke cover for the European market.

Rumors of the bike coming for the 2021 model year have been pretty rife the past few months, so perhaps “surprise” is the wrong word to use here, and of course the Euro5 regulations have pushed for a number of “new” bikes to debut in Europe.

Still, the bump from the 250cc machine to the 2021 Honda CRF300L Rally is a welcomed sight for this small-displacement machine.

The route for the 2021 Dakar Rally has been announced, as the iconic race once again traverses the country of Saudi Arabia.

There had been hope that this year would see The Dakar leaving the Saudi Kingdom, but with COVID-19 restrictions, opening borders is not a viable option at this time.

That is okay, because the Arabian country has more than enough terrain to challenge the Dakar competitors, and this year we see roughly 3,000 miles of special timed stages being used.

The upside to no motorcycle shows is that a new motorcycle model can debut at a moment’s notice. Such is the case with the 2021 KTM 890 Adventure R, which just dropped on the internets.

As the name suggests, KTM has taken the very competent 790 Adventure R, and dialed things up a notch by 90cc. As if that wasn’t enough, there is a KTM 890 Adventure R Rally for 700 lucky owners worldwide (200 in the USA).

Not everyone can be like Toby Price, and enjoy the benefits of a factory seat inside the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, but you can at least get pretty close to having a true Dakar race bike, thanks to KTM offering a replica of its rally raid race bike.

Now with the latest installment of that customer-racer machine, we say hello to the KTM 450 Rally Replica for the 2021 racing season.

That the Honda CB650R and its ilk make for excellent custom motorcycles should be an established fact by this point in time. Honda Motor Europe has prove this point extensively with its bevy of customs over the years.

So, it does not surprise us to see that the Japanese brand’s operations on the Iberian peninsula are using the CB as the basis for a custom bike build competition. What does surprise us though are some of the entries, as they are truly unique.

Take for instance this example, dubbed the Honda CB650R Rally. It’s done by Honda Wingmotor in Lisbon, Portugal, and as the name implies, it is a rally raid interpretation of the venerable street bike.

If the KTM 790 Adventure R wasn’t off-roady enough for you, the Austrians have just announced another trim level to the ground-breaking ADV machine, which will make it even more suited to long-distance traveling where the asphalt ends.

As such, say hello to the KTM 790 Adventure R Rally for the 2020 model year. Though restricted to just 500 units worldwide, KTM owners can still replicate much of what the “Ready to Race” brand is doing by raiding the KTM power parts bin.

This is because the KTM 790 Adventure R Rally is basically the adventure bike built with all of KTM’s best farkles. But, don’t let that notion distract you into thinking that this is just a simple parts bin pony.

KTM is building a potent machine, with the hopes of getting the imaginations stirring for those with dirt in their blood.

When the Honda CRF450 Rally debuted for rally raid competitors in 2012, there was a cry for a production model of this Dakar-ready dirt bike. It took a while, but Big Red finally answer…sort of.

The Honda CRF250L Rally wasn’t exactly the bike that we expect to see in 2015, and it took over a year (and many, many teasings) for the concept to become a reality for the 2017 model year.

The 250cc platform was an interesting choice for Honda to make for its race-replica dirt bike, especially with the underwhelming debut of the CRF250L model, and thus the want for a 450cc version continued.

Now with the potent CRF450L on the market, it looks like that idea is starting to take shape…though, you would hardly know it from the Japanese brand’s actions at EICMA.