The Monster Energy Honda Team claimed the FIM Manufacturers' World Championship in 2022 and 2023, but they have yet to taste success in the fight for the rider championship. Fielding up to six factory riders at a time, the Japanese manufacturer has gone back to its winning ways at the Dakar in recent years. Now, it is hell-bent on completing a three-peat with the W2RC title.
H for Heavyweights
Honda is not known as the "Japanese giant" for nothing. It has long been the undisputed world number 1 motorbike and scooter manufacturer, and in 2023 it rammed that point home again, shipping 18 million vehicles. From nippy city runabouts to beefed-up speedsters for blazing around the track, the Japanese factories cater to all tastes. Honda are adamant that "to sell a bike, you need to show it off" (see interview below). And what better platform than competition? What better test bench than a race?
That was Soichiro Honda's mantra when he founded the maker back in 1948. By the 1970s, Honda had already set up a dedicated racing department, the RSC (Racing Service Center), which evolved into HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) in 1982. These days, their trophy cabinets in the Land of the Rising Sun are packed with silverware bagged in everything from circuit racing to motocross, trials... and rally raids.
Back-to-back W2RC Manufacturers' Championships
A Honda finished on the podium spot as soon as the inaugural edition of the Dakar, back in 1979, with Philippe Vassard in the saddle (third). Yet the factory adventure began in 1981, with Cyril Neveu flying the flag and sewing up the win the following year. Honda racked up five victories through 1989, including a clean sweep of the podium in 1986 with the purpose-built NXR750. After a 24-year hiatus, HRC stormed back onto the scene in 2013, unleashing the CRF450 Rally. This machine picked up a bunch of stage wins during the South American stint of the Dakar, but the overall victory proved elusive despite several podium finishes. That is, until the rally pitched up in Saudi Arabia.
Ricky Brabec put Honda back on the top step in 2020, a whopping 31 years after Gilles Lalay's last triumph. They doubled down the following year with a one-two finish, as Kevin Benavides pipped the Californian to the post. Monster Energy Honda Team then threw their hat into the ring for the newly minted FIM World Rally-Raid Championship in 2022, scooping the manufacturers' title before making it two in a row in 2023. On the flip side, the riders' crown has remained beyond their grasp despite a record number of wins in prologues and specials (43 out of 98). HRC pulled out all the stops in 2024, fielding a six-man squadron of factory riders in the Dakar, where Brabec once again romped to victory. Honda also bagged the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal with Tosha Schareina before locking out the top 4 in the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF Infinia with Brabec, Schareina, Van Beveren and Skyler Howes. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) is the overall leader going into the world championship finale, but Brabec and Van Beveren are hot on his case. Talk about high-octane drama as the engines rev up in Marrakesh! After claiming silver in 2022 (Brabec) and bronze in 2023 (Van Beveren), HRC are going for W2RC gold this season.
Honda rally-raid milestones
- 1981 : First factory rider in the Dakar (Cyril Neveu, sixth)
- 1982 : First Dakar win (Cyril Neveu on an XR550)
- 1986 : Honda 1-2-3 (Neveu, Gilles Lalay and Andrea Balistrieri) on NXR750 machines. Four consecutive victories (Neveu in 1986 and 1987, Edi Orioli in 1988 and Lalay in 1989).
- 2013 : Dakar comeback on the CRF450 Rally following a 24-year hiatus.
- 2020 : First Dakar win since 1989 (Ricky Brabec). More victories in 2021 (Kevin Benavides) and 2024 (Brabec again).
- 2022 : First FIM Manufacturers' W2RC World Championship title (successfully defended in 2023).
Ruben Faria (Monster Energy Honda Team): "May the best man win!"
How did you end up at the helm of Monster Energy Honda?
"I'd entered the Dakar nine times on two wheels up to 2016 [runner-up in 2013]. After my stint as a factory rider, I hung up my boots with the KTM Group in 2017. I had another crack at the rally in 2018 as co-driver for my friend André Villas-Boas. In 2019, Honda called me and offered me a job as the sporting manager for their rally squad. I signed on from September to the Dakar, which we won with Ricky Brabec. After that, they suggested making me the general manager. It was an offer I couldn't refuse! We bagged a one-two with Kevin Benavides and Ricky in 2021 and nabbed second with Pablo Quintanilla in 2022. We struggled a bit in 2023. This year, we came in first and third with Ricky and Adrien Van Beveren. I think I've done a decent job!"
Honda usually fields five or six riders, all with the same goal in mind: to beat the rest and take the win. How do you manage a kitchen with so many cooks?
"All our riders have what it takes to win. Every single one of them. And we don't go into a race telling any of them, for whatever reason: 'You get to fight for the win, and you don't'. Everyone starts with the same goal. If, after a few days, a rider is way off the pace because he's taken a tumble or got lost, and another one is in with a shout, I'll gently try to make the former see that the team's victory is what really matters. The riders all crave that win, but Honda pays their wages, and what does Honda want? To win. It can be tricky at times, but so far, the riders have always fallen in line and been fair about it."
Not a big fan of team orders, then?
"Look at the last Desafío Ruta 40 YPF Infinia: our two riders, Ricky and Tosha Schareina, traded blows right up to the final special. On the last day, we told Ricky to use his brain, but we didn't instruct Tosha to back off just because Ricky had more championship points and needed to finish ahead! We weren't about to go down that road. Depending on how things pan out, we might have to sit down and have that talk in the Rallye du Maroc because it's the season finale. But never at the start or the middle of the championship. We'd only do that if the title were on the line."
Speaking of the Rallye du Maroc, Ross Branch is leading the championship, but you have two riders, Brabec and Van Beveren, who are still mathematically in contention for the title…
"Adrien can still become world champion, but he's third and sixteen points behind. For that to happen, Ross would need to have a major issue, practically not finish the race, and Ricky would need to struggle too. Ricky, on the other hand, is only nine points adrift. If he wins and Ross finishes third, Ricky will take the title. Winning in Morocco is never easy, but no-one on our team has a better shot at the championship than Ricky. He generally performs well in Morocco. I have a feeling we're in for a fierce battle with Ross, who's a hell of a rider and a tough nut to crack. May the best man win!"
Looking beyond RallyGP, Honda has just made a winning debut in Rally 2 with Romain Dumontier. What triggered the decision to enter this class, and why with this rider?
"After all these years racing with factory bikes, Honda plans to launch a customer competition bike. To sell a bike, you need to show it off. That's why we entered the competition. Romain talked to me a lot —he was leading the Rally 2 championship and didn't have any personal sponsors that would clash with Honda, so it was an easy choice for the Desafío Ruta 40 YPF Infinia. He won his class and delivered big time, so now we're preparing a bike for him for the Rallye du Maroc."
Honda W2RC victories in RallyGP:
5 races won:
- 2022 Andalucía Rally (Adrien Van Beveren)
- 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (Adrien Van Beveren)
- 2024 Dakar (Ricky Brabec)
- 2024 BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal (Tosha Schareina)
- 2024 Desafío Ruta 40 YPF Infinia (Ricky Brabec)
43 prologue and special wins by:
- Adrien Van Beveren (14)
- Ricky Brabec (7)
- Tosha Schareina (7)
- Pablo Quintanilla (6)
- Joan Barreda (2)
