Hero MotoSports has just announced its rider line-up for the 2020 Dakar Rally. The four-member squad will comprise Joaquim Rodrigues, CS Santosh and Oriol Mena – who were the part of the team’s 2019 Dakar squad as well – and joining them will be Portuguese rally veteran Paulo Goncalves, who participated in the Silk Way Rally and Rally of Morocco for the team this year.
This will be the fourth Dakar that the Hero MotoCorp team will be participating in, and so far, the team has enjoyed a rather impressive year of competitive rallying. This year, the team has achieved a win, with Rodrigues finishing on top at the Pan Africa Rally, two podium finishes (at Merzouga and Desert Storm), four stage wins (one in the Silk Way Rally, two at the Pan Africa Rally and one at the Rally of Morocco) and six stage podiums (all at the Silk Way Rally). The Hero MotoSports Rally Team will be looking to carry this form and momentum into one of the hardest races of the year.
The 2020 edition of the Dakar Rally kicks off a new chapter for the iconic rally as it moves to Saudi Arabia, following a decade-long stint in South America. Set to start from Jeddah on January 5, the rally will comprise 12 stages over a total distance of about 7,900km.
Announcing the team, Wolfgang Fischer, team manager, Hero MotoSports Team Rally said: “We have had a good year so far and we want to close it on a high with a strong performance at the Dakar 2020. The preparations for the Team have been good and all riders are in good shape. The bikes have also been performing without any glitches. Now we will enter the last phase of our preparations before heading to the Dakar at a new destination, Saudi Arabia. It will be a new challenge for everyone. We are determined to compete well and improve our results this year.”