China has established itself in the Dakar Rally with an impressive number of manufacturers and pilots. In the 47th edition, the second job, Hoto, starts, but it is taken from the KTM shelf.
Since 2023 we have known Kove Moto as a dedicated factory in public sport. In his first Dakar, the Chinese manufacturer surprisingly brought all three pilots to the finish, which can be seen as a great success for the first time participating. This year there are already eleven Kove motorcycles at the start – as many as Honda! There are six registered Chinese pilots, three of whom ride Chinese motorcycles
In 2025, another manufacturer from China, Hoto, will dare to take on the challenge of a more difficult meeting. On the driving side, the services of strong pilots from Europe have been secured by Xavier Flick and Arūnas Gelažnikas. The Frenchman has once called Kove, the Greek is a two-time winner of the Original-by-Motul category as an individual.
“My contract with Kove ended after Dakar 2024. I remained in contact with them, but Hoto came along. “It is a new manufacturer, the rally attack motorcycle will be the first model of the brand,” said Flick, explaining the history of Hoto. “When we started to discuss there was and plans and drawings only. I was very interested because I could express my opinion on everything. You have a very interesting and interesting way of development. Although I know I can do better, I would like to be in the top 30. The first goal is to get the motorcycle to the finish line.”
By the way: Hoto is the phonetic rendering of the Chinese word for camel!
Hoto has developed its own chassis in which the proven 450 cc engine from KTM provides thrust and reliability. In the preliminaries, things went well for Flick, 2:39 minutes behind (37th place).
“I was driving behind a driver with such a performance. “Due to the heavy vegetation and persistent dust, I didn’t want to take any risk of passing,” reported the Frenchman. “The pace is constant and the times are close – a good start to the first stage and a good place to start.”
| Dakar 2025: Preamble to the Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | the driver | Motorcycle | Time |
| 1 | Daniel Sanders (AUS) | KTM | 16:51.7 minutes |
| 2 | Ross Branch (BWA) | Hero | +0:12.0 |
| 3 | Edgar Canet (ESP) | KTM | +0:12.0 |
| 4 | Ricky Brabec (USA) | Honda | +0:18.0 |
| 5 | Tosha Schareina (ESP) | Honda | +0:25.0 |
| 6 | Pablo Quintanilla (CHL) | Honda | +0:27.0 |
| 7 | Adrien Van Beveren (FRA) | Honda | +0:41.0 |
| 8 | Michael Docherty (ZAF) | KTM | +0:47.0 |
| 9 | Skyler Howes (USA) | Honda | +0:52.0 |
| 10 | Sebastian Bühler (DEU) | Hero | +1:00.0 |
| 11 | Martin Michek (CZE) | KTM | +1:01.0 |
| 12 | Bradley Cox (ZAF) | KTM | +1:03.0 |
| 13 | Mason Klein (USA) | Mussels | +1:04.0 |
| 14 | Lorenzo Santolino (ESP) | Sherco | +1:11.0 |
| 15 | Tobias Ebster (AUT) | KTM | +1:26.0 |
| 16 | Rui Goncalves (PRT) | Sherco | +1:26.0 |
| 17 | Stefan Svitko (SVK) | KTM | +1:26.0 |
| 18 | Jacob Argubright (USA) | Honda | +1:30.0 |
| 19 | Aaron Mare (ZAF) | Husqvarna | +1:31.0 |
| 20 | Konrad Dabrowski (POL) | KTM | +1:31.0 |
| 21 | Romain Dumontier (FRA) | Honda | +1:35.0 |
| 22 | Daniel Nosiglia Jager (BOL) | I laugh | +1:36.0 |
| 23 | Kevin Benavides (ARG) | KTM | +1:38.0 |
| 24 | Luciano Benavides (ARG) | KTM | +1:40.0 |
| 25 | Antonio Maio (PRT) | Yamaha | +1:47.0 |
| 26 | Dusan Drdaj (CZE) | KTM | +1:56.0 |
| 27 | Toni Mulec (SVN) | KTM | +2:09.0 |
| 28 | Mathieu Doveze (FRA) | KTM | +2:11.0 |
| 29 | Emanuel Gyenes (ROU) | KTM | +2:11.0 |
| 30 | Jeremy Miroir (FRA) | Strange | +2:24.0 |
| 31 | Neels Theric (FRA) | Mussels | +2:28.0 |
| 32 | Bruno Santos (PRT) | Husqvarna | +2:30.0 |
| 33 | Toby Hedericks (AUS) | KTM | +2:30.0 |
| 34 | Charlie Herbst (FRA) | A YEAR | +2:33.0 |
| 35 | Paolo Lucci (ITA) | Honda | +2:38.0 |
| 36 | Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (CHL) | Hero | +2:39.0 |
| 37 | Xavier Flick (FRA) | Photo | +2:39.0 |
| 38 | Milan Engel (CZE) | KTM | +2:44.0 |
| 39 | Benjamin Melot (FRA) | KTM | +2:49.0 |
| 40 | Josep Pedro Subirats (ESP) | I laugh | +2:54.0 |
| 41 | Jerome Martiny (BEL) | Husqvarna | +3:03.0 |
| 42 | Tommaso Montanari (ITA) | Strange | +3:03.0 |
| 43 | David Casteu (FRA) | Husqvarna | +3:04.0 |
| 44 | Mike Wiedemann (DEU) | KTM | +3:16.0 |
| 45 | Adam Peschel (CZE) | Husqvarna | +3:16.0 |
| 46 | Mohammed Balooshi (EXISTS) | Strange | +3:19.0 |
| 47 | Jan Brabec (CZE) | KTM | +3:19.0 |
| 48 | Jaromir Romancik (CZE) | KTM | +3:19.0 |
| 49 | Arun Gelaznink (LTU) | Photo | +3:20.0 |
| 50 | Robbie Wallace (GBR) | KTM | +3:24.0 |
| 51 | Javi Vega (ESP) | Mussels | +3:26.0 |
| 52 | Sunier Sunier (CHN) | Mussels | +3:36.0 |
| 53 | Nerimantas Jucius (LTU) | Husqvarna | +3:58.0 |
| 54 | Julien Dalbec (FRA) | KTM | +4:03.0 |
| 55 | David Pabiska (CZE) | KTM | +4:05.0 |
| 56 | Tomas De Gavardo (CHL) | Strange | +4:08.0 |
| 57 | Harith Noah (IND) | Sherco | +4:17.0 |
| 58 | Alexandre Vaudan (CHE) | KTM | +4:17.0 |
| 59 | Michael Jacobi (FRA) | A YEAR | +4:36.0 |
| 60 | Jeremy Gerber (FRA) | KTM | +4:40.0 |
| 61 | Fang Xiangliang (CHN) | Photo | +4:41.0 |
| 62 | Marc Calmet Calveras (ESP) | I laugh | +4:41.0 |
| 63 | Guillaume Chollet (FRA) | KTM | +4:47.0 |
| 64 | Martin Prokes (CZE) | KTM | +4:50.0 |
| 65 | Sandra Gomez Cantero (ESP) | Strange | +4:51.0 |
| 66 | Manuel Lucchese (ITA) | Husqvarna | +4:55.0 |
| 67 | Abdulhalim Almogheera (SAU) | KTM | +4:55.0 |
| 68 | Juan Santiago Rostan (ARG) | A YEAR | +4:57.0 |
| 69 | Murun Purevdorj (MNG) | KTM | +5:08.0 |
| 70 | James Hillier (GBR) | Mussels | +5:11.0 |
| 71 | Yann Di Mauro (CHE) | Honda | +5:12.0 |
| 72 | Juan Puga (ECU) | KTM | +5:15.0 |
| 73 | Deng Liansong (CHN) | Mussels | +5:22.0 |
| 74 | Fabien Domas (FRA) | A YEAR | +5:24.0 |
| 75 | Bartlomiej Tabin (POL) | Husqvarna | +5:26.0 |
| 76 | Thomas Kongshoj (DNK) | KTM | +5:27.0 |
| 77 | Interior of Titian (ITA) | Honda | +5:30.0 |
| 78 | Simon Marcic (SVN) | Husqvarna | +5:35.0 |
| 79 | Jiri Broz (CZE) | KTM | +5:37.0 |
| 80 | Andrea Winkler (ITA) | KTM | +5:38.0 |
| 81 | Eid Rafic (LBN) | A YEAR | +5:41.0 |
| 82 | Bertrand Domet (FRA) | A YEAR | +5:42.0 |
| 83 | Dwain Barnard(ZAF) | KTM | +5:46.0 |
| 84 | Marshall Meplon (FRA) | KTM | +5:50.0 |
| 85 | Philippe Gendron (FRA) | KTM | +6:03.0 |
| 86 | Oscar Hernandez Panos (ESP) | KTM | +6:04.0 |
| 87 | Maxime Pouponnot (FRA) | Strange | +6:06.0 |
| 88 | Andrew Joseph Houlihan (AUS) | KTM | +6:16.0 |
| 89 | Lorenzo Maestrami (ITA) | Honda | +6:18.0 |
| 90 | Francisco Alvarez Niño (COL) | KTM | +6:19.0 |
| 91 | Common siliunas (LTU) | KTM | +6:28.0 |
| 92 | Benjamin Bourdariat (FRA) | KTM | +6:39.0 |
| 93 | Jordan Strachan (CAN) | Mussels | +6:41.0 |
| 94 | Axel Mustad (NOR) | Husqvarna | +6:49.0 |
| 95 | Ashish Raorane(IND) | KTM | +6:55.0 |
| 96 | Cesare Zacchetti (ITA) | Mussels | +6:59.0 |
| 97 | Arnaud Domet (FRA) | A YEAR | +7:06.0 |
| 98 | Mykolas Paulavicius (LTU) | KTM | +7:16.0 |
| 99 | Jean-Philippe Révolte (FRA) | KTM | +7:17.0 |
| 100 | Mathieu Feuvrier (FRA) | Husqvarna | +7:18.0 |
| 101 | Jim Moisa (FRA) | KTM | +7:20.0 |
| 102 | Fabian Von Thuengen (URY) | Husqvarna | +7:20.0 |
| 103 | Vasileios Boudros (GRC) | Husqvarna | +7:23.0 |
| 104 | Juanjo Martinez Garcia (ESP) | KTM | +7:29.0 |
| 105 | Justin Gerlach (DEU) | KTM | +7:29.0 |
| 106 | Zhang Min (CHN) | KTM | +7:39.0 |
| 107 | Thomas Georgin (FRA) | KTM | +7:45.0 |
| 108 | Carlos Alfonso Malo Peña (ECU) | KTM | +7:45.0 |
| 109 | Francisco Arredondo (GTM) | KTM | +7:45.0 |
| 110 | Salman Mohamed Humood Farhan (BHR) | KTM | +7:49.0 |
| 111 | Ivan Merichal Resina (ESP) | KTM | +7:51.0 |
| 112 | Stéphane Darques (FRA) | Husqvarna | +7:58.0 |
| 113 | Gines Belzunces Viudez (ESP) | KTM | +8:00.0 |
| 114 | Max Bianucci (FRA) | Husqvarna | +8:01.0 |
| 115 | Mishal Alghuneim (SAU) | KTM | +8:08.0 |
| 116 | Ottavio Missoni (ITA) | Mussels | +8:10.0 |
| 117 | Zhao Hongyi (CHN) | KTM | +8:22.0 |
| 118 | Damien Bataller (FRA) | KTM | +8:24.0 |
| 119 | Alvaro Iris Coppola Gutierrez (URY) | KTM | +8:25.0 |
| 120 | Ahmed Aljaber (SAU) | KTM | +8:34.0 |
| 121 | Clément Artaud (FRA) | KTM | +8:36.0 |
| 122 | Gad Nachmani (PRT) | KTM | +8:50.0 |
| 123 | Jader Giraldi (ITA) | KTM | +9:24.0 |
| 124 | Willem Avenant (ZAF) | Husqvarna | +9:27.0 |
| 125 | Eduardo Iglesias Sanchez (ESP) | KTM | +9:34.0 |
| 126 | Gediminas Satkus (LTU) | KTM | +9:42.0 |
| 127 | Alexandre Yon (FRA) | KTM | +9:45.0 |
| 128 | Ehab Al Hakeem (LBN) | KTM | +9:59.0 |
| 129 | Ignacio Sanchis (ESP) | KTM | +10:01.0 |
| 130 | Dennis Mildenberger (CHE) | KTM | +10:38.0 |
| 131 | Ferran Zaragoza Rosa (ESP) | KTM | +12:10.0 |
| 132 | Jatin Jain(IND) | Mussels | +13:04.0 |
| 133 | Badr Alhamdan (SAU) | Mussels | +13:25.0 |
| 134 | Rachid Al-Lal Lahadil (ESP) | Husqvarna | +16:11.0 |
