As SCORE Worldwide legalises rally raid bikes for the 2024 season with the creation of the Professional Moto Journey class, one producer of such bikes is stepping as much as present help. Kove Moto will provide USD$1,000 (€933.40) to the primary 5 riders who enter the season-opening San Felipe 250 in March, in addition to prize cash for the highest three finishers within the class at every of the 4 SCORE World Desert Championship races.
The Professional Moto Journey race winner, no matter their bike’s model, will earn $2,500 (€2333.50). Second place receives $1,000 and third will get $500 (€466.70).
Kove has been desperate to develop its footprint in off-road racing, spearheaded by its rally raid programme that competes on the Dakar Rally and World Rally-Raid Championship. In January, the Chinese language marque fielded six bikes at Dakar and made their début within the W2RC’s prime RallyGP division with Mason Klein, whose youthful brother Carter received the 2023 Baja 1000 for bikes.
Professional Moto Journey is open to bikes with single-cylinder engines that displace between 250cc and 650cc. Cross-country rally bikes are required to be 450cc underneath present FIM regulation, nicely inside that threshold, whereas the FIM Bajas World Cup has a brand new Path class that permits automobiles over 600cc. SCORE additionally mandates bikes within the class to have a windscreen and navigation tower, the latter utilized in rally raid to connect roadbooks and different navigation gear although these usually are not required right here. As such, W2RC bikes just like the Kove 450 Rally are eligible for SCORE competitors.
In December, Baja 500 Sportsman Moto winner Javier Rubio introduced he’ll run the complete 2024 SCORE season on a Kove 450 Rally. Whereas the category had not been unveiled on the time, Rubio successfully grew to become the primary confirmed rider in Professional Moto Journey, and is its solely entrant for San Felipe as of this text’s publication.
Professional Moto Journey is certainly one of two new lessons for 2024 alongside Professional Baja-e Moto for electrical bikes. Christian Klein, racing a Zero bike, is at present the lone rider entered at San Felipe.
The San Felipe 250 will happen on 20–24 March, adopted by the Baja 500 on 29 Might to 2 June and Baja 400 on 11–15 September. The legendary Baja 1000 will conclude the SCORE calendar on 12–17 November.
