The Dakar Rally and Baja 1000 are two of probably the most iconic off-road races on the planet, however whereas there are many individuals who have raced each, it’s tougher for automobiles to do as a result of FIA and FIM rules differ from SCORE Worldwide‘s. In 2024, SCORE will present an avenue for rally raid bikes within the type of the Professional Moto Journey class.
Professional Moto Journey bikes are outlined by SCORE as “bikes outfitted with entrance windscreen / tower and enormous capability gasoline tanks.” They will need to have single-cylinder engines that displace between 250cc and 650cc; trendy rally bikes equivalent to these competing within the World Rally-Raid Championship and FIM Bajas World Cup are restricted to 450cc, simply assembly the requirement, and the latter has additionally launched a Path class for these over 600cc for the 2024 season. Whereas the Bajas World Cup permits each single- and twin-cylinder engines, the W2RC restricts it to only one cylinder.
This opens the door for bikes that one will usually see on the Dakar and different W2RC rounds just like the Kove 450 Rally and Hero 450 Rally. However, journey bikes such because the 2024 Africa Eco Race-winning Aprilia Tuareg 660 miss the lower both as a result of they’re dual-cylinder engines or the displacement is barely out of vary.
Not like their desert racing counterparts, rally bikes characteristic a navigation tower on the entrance upon which a roadbook is hooked up, although the mount to carry one shouldn’t be required right here since SCORE doesn’t use roadbooks. The tower will need to have a floor space of not less than 120 sq. inches, and riders are to set it up earlier than technical inspection at every occasion.
Professional Moto Journey is a Professional class, which means opponents pay an entry charge of USD$2,900 earlier than the applying ($3,100 if accomplished after). Entrants within the class are assigned a quantity between #800X and #899X. Though a typical SCORE race runs for at some point versus a number of like a rally, the previous is for much longer distance-wise than a person rally stage so Journey riders might go solo or break up the bike with team-mates.
The class’s creation comes on the heels of a Baja-savvy car profitable the Dakar Rally in January when the Polaris RZR Professional R Manufacturing unit, which received the 2023 SCORE Professional UTV Open championship, conquered the Dakar SSV class. Even then, the FIA Polaris featured quite a few variations from its SCORE sister.
Apart from Professional Moto Journey, SCORE has additionally created Professional Baja-e Moto for electrical bikes. It doesn’t have energy output restrictions, and the battery can both be in a cage or securely hooked up to the bike body itself, although wires connecting to it have to be lined and insulated whereas skid plates are mandate to additional defend it within the occasion of a crash. Baja-e riders sport numbers #E490 to #E499. The 2024 Dakar Rally featured six such bikes—two Tacita Discantos, three Arctic Leopard E-XE 880s, and Inexperienced Energy Race’s BAT Energy bike—competing within the Mission 1000 class for automobiles on different energy sources.
The 2024 SCORE season begins with the San Felipe 250 on 20–24 March.