The Dakar Rally has not been kind to Adrien van Beveren since nearly missing the Bikes podium in 2017. For the 2023 Rally onwards, the Frenchman hopes a change of scenery will change his luck as he migrates from Yamaha to the Monster Energy Honda Rally Team. The news was announced on Friday.
“We are very pleased with this announcement and we have already completed together the first tests with the Honda 450 CRF RALLY,” said team general manager Ruben Faria. “There is great harmony in the team and I am sure Adrien will help us to achieve our competitive goals.”
After rising through the motocross world, Van Beveren switched to rally raid and débuted at Dakar in 2016. Despite placing sixth and fourth in his first two runs, he did not finish a Rally from 2017 to 2021 due to a laundry list of misfortunes; for instance, his 2021 race ended on the final stage due to a mechanical issue. The 2022 edition saw him lead the overall after ten stages before a string of poor finishes knocked him off the podium entirely and he settled for fourth.
Future contests with the Yamaha WR450F dissipated when Yamaha folded its off-road motorcycle programme in February, a decision that came due to the division’s struggles in recent years with its last Dakar victory coming in 1998 and most recent podium in 2014. However, the manufacturer is still maintaining its SSV arm.
Nevertheless, the shutdown left Van Beveren a free agent before hopping to another Japanese make. He will serve as team-mate to Ricky Brabec, José Ignacio Cornejo, and Pablo Quintanilla. Van Beveren is the only rider of the quartet not from the Americas.
“I feel proud to become a Honda Racing rider, since HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) is the worldwide competition factory reference,” commented Van Beveren. “I am sure it will be an incredible experience. To seat a red bike brings me good memories, since I had a Honda when I was eight years old. In addition, it’s great to have Monster Energy onboard; I’ve been riding with them for more than ten years.”
Monster Energy Honda Team won five stages at Dakar 2022: two each by Cornejo and Joan Barreda, and one by Quintanilla. Quintanilla also placed second thrice, including a 1–2 with Barreda in Stage #4, to finish second overall in the Bikes behind Sam Sunderland. Brabec won the category in 2020.
