Sunderland trials new Dakar bike

Sam Sunderland will undertake the defence of his Dakar Rally title with a new KTM 450 Rally motorbike after the Briton gave it a rigorous test in Morocco.

Sunderland and fellow KTM riders Toby Price, Matthias Walkner and Antoine Méo will line up at the Dakar start line in Lima on January 6 safe in the knowledge that the sleek new bike can withstand the tricky South American terrain across Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.

The Dubai native gave the bike an extensive run out over Moroccan sand dunes, rocky ground and flat scrub to leave the team satisfied that the tweaks have worked.

The riders, who are targeting a 17th successive Dakar bike team victory, can thank the engineers and mechanics back at the KTM headquarters in Mattighofen, Austria for this latest rally raid marvel.

Former champion Price is back fit and ready to try and regain his crown from Sunderland, who has also won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Qatar Cross-Country Rally in 2017.

2015 FIM Cross-Country Rallies world champion Walkner is tipped to impress, while former Enduro star Méo finished seventh with badly damaged hands in his first Dakar attempt in 2016 – the injuries preventing him from competing in the following edition.