The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team have arrived in Peru, South America for the start of the 2018 Dakar Rally.
The strong four-rider line-up of Sam Sunderland, Matthias Walkner, Toby Price and Antoine Meo are joined by KTM Factory riders, Laia Sanz and Luciano Benavides. The team are keen to uphold KTM‰Ûªs impressive record at the event by claiming the factory‰Ûªs 17th consecutive title.
The motorcycle class has been won by KTM since 2001. From then on, the Austrian manufacturer has finished on the top-step of the podium in all of the last 16 events. Even when the capacity was reduced to 450cc KTM has continued to dominate, and for 2018 both the team and riders hope to continue that tradition.
The 2018 Dakar sees the official debut of the new KTM 450 RALLY, following its launch at the EICMA motorcycle show in November 2017. The new bike has proven to be faster, more powerful and yet easier to ride hard than the old model. The bike and riders now face a gruelling 14-stage rally that starts in the dunes of Peru, travels over the mountains of Bolivia before finishing in the tough terrain of Argentina. With the event promising to be one of the most difficult ever, the KTM factory riders are fully prepared and ready to race the world‰Ûªs toughest cross-country rally.
