German Sebastian Bühler is hoping for better luck at the Dakar Rally than last year – Wolfgang Fischer’s Hero team is strengthening its ranks with Joan Barreda Bort
For several years now, the German Speedbrain team, which is based in Stephanskirchen, Bavaria, has been responsible for the rally campaign of the Indian brand Hero. The racing team will also be represented at the 2024 Dakar Rally with four motorcyclists. These are the German Sebastian Bühler, Ross Branch, Joaquim Rodrigues and Joan Barreda Bort.
Bühler is also the only German in the top RallyGP class. He is now facing his fifth Dakar Rally. Last January, he crossed the finish line in 20th place. However, more would have been possible, as a problem with the fuel pump on day four cost him a lot of time.
Bühler underlined his speed with a second place in one day’s classification. The 29-year-old finished the Rally Raid World Championship season in eleventh place. “After the Dakar, we were able to ride the entire WRC, where I tested a few things on the bike,” reports Bühler.
“Races are always the best way to test. But it’s not always good in terms of results. But the most important thing for me is that the bike is getting better and better. The team has worked really hard and we now have a bike that we can win with.”
“If I hadn’t lost so much time last year with the fuel problem, I would have finished eighth. That’s exactly my goal for 2024: a top 10 finish.” Bühler has a new, very experienced and fast team-mate.
With 30 stage wins, Barreda is in third place in the all-time motorcycle leaderboard. Only the multiple overall winners Stephane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres have celebrated more stage wins on two wheels with 33.
For Barreda, it is a return to Speedbrain and team manager Wolfgang Fischer. He first joined the team in 2012 and rode a Husqvarna. At that time, the brand still belonged to BMW. From 2014 to 2016, Speedbrain worked with Honda in rally racing. Barreda was one of the riders at the time
Since early summer 2016, Speedbrain has been doing the rallying for Hero. Barreda moved on to Honda at the time. However, he lost his place after 2022 and rode in a satellite structure close to Honda in 2023, but no longer in the official works team.
Now the 40-year-old Spaniard is returning to his roots. The collaboration was announced at the beginning of November. Barreda’s first race with the Hero 450 Rally, which was developed and built in Stephanskirchen, will be the Dakar.
“My time at Honda was over. Hero offered me a very nice and exciting project,” says the Spaniard about his switch. “Mainly because they want me to lead the development of the bike and the direction for the future.”
“That’s what I’m looking forward to the most. When they proposed the project to me, I first told them that I wanted to prioritize my rehabilitation (vertebral fracture at Dakar 2023; editor’s note) before I accepted. And finally we signed the contract.”
“We did a lot of testing in Namibia, Spain, Morocco and the USA to get a lot of kilometers on this bike. The bike has already shown that it is competitive. I’m going to the Dakar with a lot of enthusiasm and motivation.”
Barreda is facing his 14th Dakar Rally. He has made it to the finish seven times, but never to the podium despite his many stage victories. Nevertheless, the Spaniard is officially considered a Dakar legend due to his many participations.
Ross Branch won two stages last year. He finished the World Championship in fourth place. “Hopefully the work will pay off,” says the rider from Botswana. “The team has done an incredible amount to fix all the little problems. Now we have a winning bike. The rest is up to me.”
Joaquim Rodrigues’ start is open. The Portuguese rider, who brought Hero its first ever stage win (2022), crashed out of the Dakar last January. In the process, “J-Rod” broke his leg and had to take a seven-month break.
Rodrigues returned in October at the Morocco Rally and broke his shoulder blade during the shakedown. “It’s never easy to recover from an injury. When you suffer two in a row, it’s twice as hard,” sighs the 42-year-old.
“You have to dig deep to find the motivation – a physical change is never much fun. But the Hero team never lets you down. They are like a little family. It’s clear that the 2024 Dakar will be difficult in terms of results. If you don’t race, you lose your pace, and I didn’t race for a whole year. “
