Working tirelessly in recent months to be fully prepared for the 2020 Dakar Rally, the Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team have further improved their WR450F Rally machines following extensive development and testing. With the entire team once again focused on the Dakar challenge, all riders start the 42nd running of the event fit, healthy and looking for success.
Spearheading the Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team, Adrien Van Beveren returns to the Dakar Rally looking to challenge for the event win. Delivering impressive speed and results during both the 2019 and 2018 editions of the competition, Adrien remains resolutely committed to doing all he can to secure one of motorsport’s most coveted prizes.
Securing a stage win and an eventual seventh place overall result in 2019, Xavier de Soultrait has positive memories of his last Dakar participation. A rider that has shown impressive consistency and the ability to master long and demanding stages, Xavier heads into the 2020 Dakar with his confidence high and ready to take on the unridden terrain in Saudi Arabia.
Franco Caimi comes into the 2020 Dakar Rally fit, highly motivated and looking forward to taking on what will be 12 long and demanding days of racing. Unable to finish the 2019 Dakar due to competing soon after surgery for a broken leg, Franco has since returned to full fitness and with a renewed hunger for rally competition is set to play a key role in Yamaha’s participation.
Competing in his first Dakar Rally, Jamie McCanney joins the Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team as the squad’s fourth member. A vastly experienced enduro rider who has enjoyed notable success with Yamaha in recent seasons, Jamie will offer assistance to his teammates while focusing on experiencing and learning during the coming two weeks of competition.
Starting on Sunday January 5, the 2020 Dakar Rally will begin a new chapter in the event’s much-celebrated history. From North Africa to South America, the world’s most demanding multi-day off-road motorcycle event arrives in Saudi Arabia. Four times the land area of France, Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East and boasts terrain that will undoubtedly challenge all competitors.
12 competitive stages and close to 8,000 kilometres of riding, with just one rest day, will push riders and their machinery to their limits. No less than 75 per cent of the overall event will be ridden in sand, with five days featuring special stages of more than 450 kilometres in length.
Featuring two marathon stages, the 2020 Dakar Rally is likely to be one of the most challenging ever – a motorsport adventure the Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team are all-set to begin.
