With Ross Branch leading the FIM riders’ world championship since the second round on the calendar, the Hero MotoSports Team Rally is enjoying the finest season of its short history. The Indian constructor, less well-known than its competitors, boasts a meteoric rise worthy of a superhero, which is full of surprises!
Hero and Honda have more in common than just a H
Did you know that Hero MotoCorp is the world’s number one constructor of two-wheelers in terms of units produced? No other manufacturer in the world has a two-wheeler in its catalogue that sells as well as Hero's bestseller! It earned this distinction in 2001 thanks to its Splendor model, which is a low-cost, fuel-efficient motorbike, a principle that has driven the success of the brand which now has a share of over 50% of the Indian market, the largest in the world.
In 2023, 4 million bikes were made by its 6 factories in India and its production site in Colombia. With a market capitalisation of 12 billion dollars, the brand came into being 40 years ago following a union with Honda, none other than its designated opponent in the 2024 W2RC! On 19th January 1984, Hero Honda Motors Limited Incorporated was founded following a partnership agreement between the Hero Cycles company owned by the Munjal family and the Japanese giant. The two players in the joint-venture went their separate ways in 2011 and the company adopted the name by which it is known today: Hero MotoCorp.
Hip, hip, Hero!
Following its debut on the Dakar in 2017 with Portugal’s Joaquim Rodrigues (who finished 10th) and Indian CS Santosh, the Hero MotoSports Team Rally achieved its first double in the top 10 with “J-Rod” and Sebastian Buhler (respectively 8th and 10th) in 2021, for its 5th Dakar. In 2022, the Portuguese rider won the team’s first stage victory on the Dakar on the 3rd stage on a machine entirely developed in-house (see the interview with Wolfgang Fischer), at the same time kicking off Hero’s W2RC stage win tally, which now stands at 14. Ross Branch, who joined the team that same year, is responsible for 10 of them.
Ross Branch, who was joined in 2024 by the legendary Joan Barreda, has this season become the superhero that the brand has been waiting for. The man from Botswana was in the battle for overall victory on the Dakar before finishing in 2nd place, but went on to take the lead in the world championship general rankings after the second round at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which was won by his team-mate Aaron Mare, who gave the team its first overall triumph on a round of the W2RC! 2024 is definitely a successful year for Hero and the team is not done yet. Branch will arrive at Rallye du Maroc in October, the final round of the W2RC, in the lead in the RallyGP riders’ category, with the aim of winning the FIM world championship title.
Key dates for Hero MotoCorp
- 1984: creation of Hero Honda Motors Limited Incorporated.
- 2001: world number one constructor of two-wheelers in terms of units produced.
- 2011: creation of Hero MotoCorp.
- 2018: launch of the Hero 200 XPulse model.
- 2020: inauguration of the Tech Center Germany. 2021: Hero MotoCorp tops 100 million units sold.
Key dates for Hero MotoSports Team Rally
- 2016: first appearance on the Merzouga Rally (“J-Rod” finished 9th).
- 2017: first Dakar (“J-Rod” finished 10th).
- 2022: first stage victory on the Dakar (by “J-Rod”).
- 2024: first podium finish on the Dakar (2nd overall by Ross Branch), first overall victory on a W2RC round (by Aaron Mare at the ADDC), first time leading the W2RC riders’ category (Ross Branch since the ADDC).
INTERVIEW: Wolfgang Fischer, team manager at Hero MotoSports Team Rally
“Doing all the W2RC races the last couple of years was the key to getting to the next level”.
How did the story begin with the Hero MotoSports team?
“Everything began in 2016 with the Merzouga Rally. It was the first race of the Hero project, which could count on technical support from SpeedBrain, a company based in Germany close to Munich for several years. The rally project started at the same time as discussions about developing production bikes. The partnership became closer and closer and after our first top 10 finish on the Dakar in 2017, we started to develop bikes in Germany, which were produced in India. In 2019, Hero founded its own business, the Hero Tech Center Germany, which is entirely established in Germany but fully Indian owned. It is a research & development centre and the brand’s motorsport branch is a big part of it. In 2016, we started with 5 people and today there are 50 of us. At the time, off-road was a new segment for Hero and we developed the XPulse 200, which is currently the entry level model in India for off-road riding. It is a very popular bike that dominates the domestic championships”.
What is the story behind the development of your rally bike?
“We began with the bike that had been previously developed with SpeedBrain. In 2019, Paulo Gonçalves joined the team and raced the Silk Way Rally and Rallye du Maroc before we decided to start working on a brand-new machine designed by Hero. 2020 witnessed the development of this bike, but also the tragic accident which cost Paulo Gonçalves his life, which crystalised everything. We went back to the drawing board and at the same time as we needed to regroup and decide what to do in the future, the Covid outbreak happened and put everything on hold. After these two events, it really was not the right time to launch a new machine on a rally, but that is what we did. The crazy thing is that the bike was fully developed in Germany and had never seen the desert before it was entered in the Dakar 2020. During this period, it was impossible to cross borders in Europe. In October, we took part in the Andalucía Rally and then the bike was taken directly to Saudi Arabia”.
Was signing up for the W2RC in 2022 an obvious choice for Hero?
“Bringing the Dakar into the world championship schedule was a significant argument. It gave us more races to help us grow as a team and develop the bike. It also gave Hero the opportunity of media exposure by racing in a worldwide championship alongside the cars. The plan is to continue in 2025. Doing all the W2RC races these last couple of years has been the key to getting to the next level, which we have managed to do this season”.
2024 looks like a step further with the arrival of Joan Barreda and “Nacho” Cornejo…
“We started the Hero project with Joaquim Rodrigues, who had the spark of starting out in a new discipline, though he already had experience with factory teams in motocross, supercross and enduro. Sebastian Buhler arrived at that time too, bringing youth to the team. In 2022, Ross Branch brought his speed and infectious enthusiasm to the team. With many years of experience and knowing each other from the time when he rode alongside Paulo Gonçalves for SpeedBrain, signing Joan Barreda this season was a great chance for both of us to work together again. For Hero, Barreda brought his excellent knowledge of the discipline and for him it gave him the opportunity of racing for another year without too much pressure. “Nacho” is renowned for his very good navigation skills but also for his extensive experience in the discipline, which is an additional asset for the team. Obviously the more top riders you have in your team, the greater chance you have of success. On the last Dakar, only Ross Branch made it past the rest day. Being all alone during the second week obviously made it more difficult than having three riders still in the race”.
What will be Ross Branch’s strategy for the final round?
“There will be no special strategy. Each time, our prime goal is to ensure he finishes the race, which he has done on all of the rounds this season, collecting points each time. The priority will again be to finish the race and we know that the Rallye du Maroc is a difficult race where you have to compromise between being fast and not taking too many risks, to avoid missing the Dakar which is just around the corner”.