The 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship season will start with fewer expectations as some of the worst news for motorbikes has been confirmed. All KTM Group brands will not participate in the full calendar. Therefore, we will not see the parent company, GasGas and Husqvarna competing, although they can field any competitor they deem necessary.
While they will be racing through the dunes of Saudi Arabia in the Dakar Rally from January 5 to 19, they will not participate in the year's other events. Therefore, no one from the Austrian company will participate in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in February, the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Transiberico in April, the Desafío Ruta 40 in June and the Rallye du Maroc in October.
However, the Mattighofen giant will do its utmost with all three riders to defend the crown won by Kevin Benavides last year in the Saudi desert. The Argentine has recovered from injuries, including a fractured femur after last year's Dakar, a wrist injury in July and a very recent fibula fracture in December, and is competing, even if he is not yet 100% .
With him is Toby Price, but not Matthias Walkner, who suffered an accident and will not participate in the main event in Saudi Arabia, while his brother, Luciano Benavides, is with Husqvarna defending his world title. The driver from Salta, given that his brand will not be present throughout the championship, will have difficulty retaining the title, as will his teammate, Michael Docherty, in trying to win it for the first time. The same goes for the GasGas drivers, Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders.
All the riders in the orbit of the Austrian manufacturer will therefore have to wait to find out if they will take part in certain races, even if it is certain that they will go to the maximum with their bikes on every possible occasion.
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