Mon 31 October 2011
Team Honda Europe just returned to their headquarters in the east of Holland after a successful test in Morocco. In North Africa the brand new Honda’s CRF 450 DakarX were tested on speed, reliability, suspension and handling under the most difficult circumstances.
The bikes passed all these tests with success. Team members Bolivian Juan Carlos Salvatierra and Dutch Jan van Woerkum, Marco van Geel, Ronald ter Beek, Ebert Dollevoet, Geert Mulder and our test rider Mirjam Pol, took the opportunity to ride their bikes through the mountains and desert of Morocco for 600 miles.
Team manager Henk Hellegers after his 5000 mile trip to Morocco: ‘We did our homework very well, because from the beginning the bikes were running without any problems. The setup of the new bike was so good that we could start early with the fine tuning for each rider.
We also had time to test several tires and found out that the Dunlop tyres as used last year proved to be very competitive. The last 2 days were spend with the, next week to be announced, 3rd top rider to set up his bike to his wishes. Also here the first impression was very positive and he impressed with his speed and smoothness on the CRF450DakarX.
Team manager Henk Hellegers; “I am glad we made this trip so we are fully prepared for the coming Dakar. Now we can prepare our bikes, service trucks and parts to the highest standards for a successful Dakar 2012”.
Pre Prologue Eurocircuit Valkenswaard
Of course Team Honda Europe will be present at the Dakar Pre Prologue on Sunday November 6 in Valkenswaard. For the Dutch teams and riders this is a great opportunity to introduce themself to the Dutch press and specially the fans. Our riders, world champion sidecar motocross Daniël Willemsen, Ronald ter Beek, Jan van Gerven, Jan van Woerkum, Geert Mulder, Marco van Geel en Ebert Dollevoet will race on the GP track of Valkenswaard. For Van Woerkum, Van Geel, Dollevoet en Van Gerven this will be very special, because they all live within 6 miles of the track. Beside the riders and their bikes we will also show our service trucks and bivouac set up at the Pre Prologue that attracted last year a crowd of over 15.000 people. The gate will open at 09.00 and the start of the firs heat is at 10.00.
Team Honda Europe at official presentation Le Dakar 2012 in Paris
Team Honda Europe will be present at the official presentation of the Dakar Rally 2012 in Paris on November the 8th. We will show our new Honda CRF 450 DakarX at this huge event to the international press.