21 October 2022
Big succes in Dakar 2023!

In this years edition of the Dakar rally we cross through the kingdom of Saudi Arabia covering almost 9000km of desert.

The HT team consisted of 8 riders from all over the world:

Romain Dumontier FRA
Michael Docherty ZAF
Toni Mulec SVN
Wesley Aaldering NLD
Mirjam Pol NLD
Gareth Jones CAN
Stevan Wilken ZAF
during these 2 weeks all of the riders showed what they were made of and had to dig deep to make it to the finish line. The weather played a big role in this years edition with pouring rain for multiple days the desert turned into a big swamp making riding conditions even harder.
Even the road sections turned into a big challenge having to drive through rain and cold in the dark for multiple hours every day.
Bikes and rides both suffered greatly from these conditions but still continued to push on and bringing it home safe everyday.
Michael Docherty turned out to be one of the big surprises of this year finishing on the podium multiple days and getting close to stage wins! unfortunately he had a big crash early on which lead to an wrist injury that forced him to slow down his pace to make it to the finish line. He still managed to grab 3rd place overall in Rally2 and become the best rookie of 2023! Iron Mike!
Romain Dumontier showed his great speed from early on in the race despite battling some serious illness. He mixed his speed with very consistant riding to stay in the top 20 overall and fight for the lead in Rally2. After 2 weeks of hard racing he kept it together and grabbed the win in Rally 2 and a 14th position overall!
Mirjam Pol, Current world champion Baja and Cross country rally and winner of the Dakar 2022’s women’s class also rode a strong race and brought home another win in the woman’s category.
Combining these results with the rest of the riders bringing it to the finish line makes this years edition one of the most succesfull ones in history!
On to the rest of the season!
6 December 2022
HT Rider Mirjam Pol dual world champion

HT team rider Mirjam pol has managed to make it to the top step of the podium in the world championship Rally women’s after a season long battle with close racing in all races. With a final decision in the Rallye du Maroc Mirjam managed to put the title to her name!

But that is not all! She has also got the title of world champion Baja in her class after a good performance in the Baja Dubai.

Congratulations on this performance Mirjam! Now on to the Dakar 2023.

21 October 2022
Recap Rally du Maroc 2022

For this years edition of the Rallye du Maroc we headed to Morocco to assist 8 riders.

Before the race we went to Lyndon Poskitt training camp with the team to break in the bikes, let the riders get a feel for the bike and also give the riders the opportunity to get very good advice and tips from Lyndon on all aspects of rally racing.

after 3 very good but already tough days of riding the team and riders headed to Morocco for the rally.

 

The race took off with the prologue in Agadir. Stage 1 took the rally from Agadir to the first desert bivouac in Tan-Tan. All riders made it through showing good speed and navigation.

Stage 2 Tan-tan to Laayoune already took out our first rider. after struggling with the heat in the large dunes he was taken out of the race by the race control.

For stage 3 the team could stay in the bivouac of Laayoune as the stage was a loop around the bivouac. Today the riders faced a lot of big dangers in the roadbook and unfortunately another team rider had to give up after a big crash. Luckily he was not severely injured and could stay with the team to support the rest.

Stage 4 took the riders back along the coast from Laayoune to Tan-tan. With a long and tough stage all riders were in for a challenge. With the tricky moroccan desert it was bad luck again with another crashed rider having to pull out of the rally with a shoulder injury.

The final stage was the last pull to make it back to Agadir. Even with being the last stage this was nothing close to an easy one. 379KM made it a very long way to the finish line!

With 6 of our 8 riders on the finish line and luckily no big injuries we are very proud of all riders and of course team members for making this happen.

Final results:
Toni Mulec P9
Mirjam Pol P19 and P1 in Women’s class!
Pierre Saeys P33
Stevan Wilken P44
Gareth Jones P48
Ardit Kurtaj P70
Gwen Bacx DNF
Joris van Dyck DNF
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20 January 2022
Rally Schedule 2022

2021 is coming to an end. We are a few days before the start of the Dakar Rally and finalized our 2022 calender. All rallies are part of the World Championship.

Our rally schedule:

Dakar Rally: 1-14th January 2022

Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: 5-10 March 2022

Kazachstan: 26-30 April 2022 (optional)

Andalucia Rally: 8-12 June 2022 (optional)

Rallye du Maroc: 6-12 October 2022

31 December 2021
Heading to Dakar with 7 riders

With only a few days to the start of the rally, the team is counting down the days. With 8375km of which 4258 km of SS in 12 specials it will be a tough one again. The Dakar Rally will be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the third time and with the astonishing landscapes over there, it is something to look forward to. With seven riders in the team, one bike in malle-moto and 8 people in the assistance crew, HT Rally Raid will jump into the plan next Monday. Hereby, we proudly introduce the 7 riders in our team for Dakar 2022.

Xavier de Soultrait #12

He experienced the rare privilege of leading the Dakar general classification. Last season, Xavier de Soultrait transformed. After leaving the professional Yamaha team with whom he has seven participations in the rally-raid, the native of Moulins took on a new challenge by becoming a “privateer” with HT Rally Raid. The change was a positive one. He was in the top 10 of the general classification after six stages and even led at the end of day four. Xavier was surprised by his ease and ability to resist everything as well as not make any mistakes. But on stage eight, he fell and broke a vertebra and was forced to retire. It was the fourth time in eight Dakars that Xavier didn’t finish. However, the Husqvarna rider knows that he has to go through this, too, to have the luxury of excelling and one day winning overall. While he has been offered the challenge of competing in a car, he prefers to stay with the bike. He welcomed his second child this year and knows that he will have to deal with the discomfort that can sometimes arise in his neck after a long day on the bike. It was notably the case in October at the Morocco rally (14th). But this doesn’t mean that he is less motivated: Xavier is ready to give it his all, once again, to get back to the top.

Mirjam Pol #40

Since she was a toddler at the age of 4 Mirjam Pol, our Dutch woman in the team, is riding motorbikes. In 2006 she took part in the Dakar Rally for the first time at the age of 22. After starting 8 Dakars and finishing 7 of them (on all 3 continents!) this experienced rider will take the start in 2022 again. With the victory in the women’s class in the World Cup Baja 2021, she is ready for the Dakar!

Walter Roelants #67

Walter, from Belgium, will join the team again for his second Dakar. Living on adrenaline from morning to night, riding his motorcycle through the most incredibale landscapes and toughest terrain, meeting other people… he would like to experience that again. Good luck in your second Dakar Walter!

Jack Lundin #107

Jack Lundin’s journey to the Dakar rally actually started as soon as the early 2000s. At the time, the young Canadian boy was following with passion the exploits of his dad Lukas who managed to finish the event twice in four attempts (43rd in 2000 and 35th in 2002). Jack was only 11 when his father battled it out on the tracks of Africa but already his dream was to participate himself. Years went by and from motocross, he turned to desert racing, even working for the Baja 1000 when he was only 13. His first appearance on the Dakar came in 2018. At the time he was working for the family gold mining company in Ecuador so the trip to Peru wasn’t a long one. He managed to finish the event in 77th position. Two years later, he had the clear ambition to return to the race and discover Saudi Arabia. Sadly a crash during the Merzouga Rally and a broken femur and arm forced him to postpone his quest to discover a new territory. Based in Guatemala for professional reasons, he is now fit enough to return to the rally of his dreams. After competing in the Baja 250 and Baja 1000, Jack will be part of our team and his goal remains to finish, hopefully doing better than his first attempt.

Diego Noras: #122

This Argentinian rider has an extreme passion for motorsports. As a dedicated rider he participated in many competitions, and even represented his country in the International Six Days Enduros in the junior category. As a dad of two children, husband and civil engineer by profession, he now ventures into rally-raid. After participating and finishing the Rally du Maroc, he will make his debute in the Dakar Rally with the goal of finishing the toughest race in the world.

Stephan Preuss #151

‘Together we are strong!’ Stephan is the older brother of the two “Preuss Brothers” in our team. It took a long time to prepare this family trip. Stephan made his first steps into the rally business in the Marlboro Adventure Team in 1997 in Canada and Utah, but it became finally serious in the Tuareg Rallye in Morocco on the old playground of the Dakar Rally. Gaining Cross Country World Cup know-how and skills by competing in the 2012 Pharaons Rallye in Egypt and many editions of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Stephan is now ready for the biggest adventure of his life, so far…

Thomas Preuss #152

‘Brothers are the best team players!’ Thomas “Tommy” is the young gun of the “Preuss Brothers”. This venture capital investor is a talented german enduro rider. Two and a half years younger, he learned the necessary rally navigation skills from his brother. Thomas’ great riding skills with the high quality of his navigation are a perfect setup for the upcoming Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. His wife Katja and his sons Leo ( 8 ) and Max (4) will follow the race in Hamburg on every channel. Thomas: “One of my biggest dreams become true – since I was in the age of my boys, I was following the Dakar on TV, but never thought that I will be there one day” Thomas can´t wait to start the race!

18 June 2020
New schedule due to the corona virus

Due to the corona virus, a lot has happened in the rally world over the last few weeks.

– Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge has been postponed

– Merzouga Rally is cancelled

So far, Rally Kazachstan will go on from 24-29 may 2020. We will be there.

Besides that, we also join the Silk Way Rally from the 3rd of july untill the 11th of july.

 

Our schedule, after those modifications:

Rally Kazakstan: 24-29 May 2020

Silk Way Rally: 3-11 July 2020

Rally du Maroc: 8-14 October 2020

The postponed ADDC and Baja Dubai??

Dakar Rally: January 2021

Do you join us on one of those rallies?

 

05 Januari 2021
First succes in Dakar

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