Here is one storyline that many people didn’t see coming. Kove’s factory rally raid team has made it to the rest day at Dakar, and they appear to be picking up steam. And, they’re doing it their own way.
In case you missed it, here’s our story about the GPX Moto Kove FSE 450R Rally, a motorcycle made in China by Kove. Unlike many Chinese bikes that are clones of Euro or Japanese designs, or simply mix-and-match specials of off-the-shelf parts made in China, the Kove motorcycle is supposed to be specifically designed for performance and reliability, and positioned as a premium product from the Chinese market. GPX says it will sell the machine in the US for an MSRP starting at $9,000 in 2023.
The consumer-friendly version of the Kove 450 that’s being flogged at Dakar. Photo: GPX
Interesting news, and all the more interesting when you see a three-rider Kove factory team signed up for Dakar Rally … a team of riders that are complete unknowns in rally raid. Fang Minji, Sunier Sunier and Deng Liansong were reportedly selected through a competition in China.
That’s not the usual way a team enters Dakar. Most factory efforts recruit well-known riders, or even partner with an existing team with a successful record. Perhaps Speedbrain is the best example of this. First, Honda paired with Speedbrain for its return to the rally about a decade back; later, Hero linked up with Speedbrain, which took its race program from 0 to 60 in a very short amount of time. Not only did this give them access to the brainpower behind the team, it also lent legitimacy that enabled them to sign well-known riders who were top-10 threats.
Kove did recruit some experienced help (see the video below), but they didn’t just go repaint an existing design and enter a rebadged bike and team in the rally. The team supposedly entered the rally with one goal: Finishing, using their own design. And somehow, they’re doing just that, beating the fatigue of the race, the endless possible mechanical breakdowns and the desert itself to get all three riders to rest day. And they’re not sandbagging, either. At least Sunier isn’t; he’s now 53rd overall, ahead of some other very experienced rally raiders.
We’ll keep an eye on the team for the next week, and let you know how they do. It’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to avoid the pointy end of the spear, but even if only one bike finishes, that is much better than many onlookers expected—and it appears to all have been done under their own terms.
