taking place in Peru once again will pit the world's best motorcycle drivers and racing teams against one another.
The teams competing in this year's event will include KTM, Honda, Yamaha, Husqvarna, and Hero, among others and the top contenders include the following, by competitor number:
The reigning Dakar champion has the complicated mission of defending his title against a large group of drivers hungry to snatch his throne out from under him. Since he won the Dakar last year, he hasn't been having a very good year in terms of race wins, but that doesn't mean he's not capable of staging a repeat in the Peruvian desert. Walkner, 32, is a raid biker and former motocross rider and the official Dakar Rally driver for the Red Bull KTM Factory team.
The missing man in last year's Dakar Rally, Paulo Goncalves, 34, is an off-road race veteran and has been an ongoing presence in the rally raid scene since 2006. He's repeatedly shown himself to have blinding speed, ability, and experience on the bike. He competed in his first Dakar Rally in 2009, winning his first stage two years later, making it to the podium several times in 2012 and finishing in 10th place in the 14-day Rally in 2013. He is ranked No. 2 in the world standings.
3.- TOBY PRICE (Australia) - KTM
The Dakar winner in 2016, it's not known whether his injured wrist will keep him from performing up to his known capacity this year. Price is an off-road and enduro motorcycle racing world champion who rode for the KTM Off-Road Racing Team until October 2015 but now represents the Red Bull Factory KTM Rally Team.
Currently, the top French rider at the Dakar —just as were Stephane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres, who together won 11 titles— Van Beveren wants to erase the memory of his crash in the 10th stage of the 2018 Rally, which knocked him out of the race after holding the overall lead for five consecutive days. He came in sixth in the Rally in his debut performance in 2016, riding for the Yamalube Yamana Official Rally Team, and came in fourth in 2017.
5.- JOAN BARREDA (Spain) - Honda
The Spaniard returns to Dakar for the ninth time to try and take home the trophy, although this past year he underwent two wrist operations. After recovering from the first one he won the Merzouga Rally in Morocco, but he then took a serious fall in Atacama (Chile) that forced him to go under the knife again and kept him away from competition in recent months.
This year, the Chilean could not reclaim his cross country world title, but he should be in the top 10 for Dakar.
7.- ORIOL MENA (Spain) - Hero
The Catalan native was the big surprise at Dakar 2018 when he finished in seventh place in his Rally debut, ahead of favored and more expert drivers. He is the 2009 Junior World Enduro Champion, 5-time 5th WEC, 6-time Spanish Enduro Champion and 5-time Spanish CrossCountry Champion.
10.- NACHO CORNEJO (Chile) - Honda
One of the most promising riders in cross country after winning the youth world championship, last year he raced at Dakar to fill in at the last minute for Goncalves and surprised observers by finishing in 10th place. This year, he has taken care of all the preparation he didn't have a chance to do in 2018 and his goal is to improve on his past performance.
14.- SAM SUNDERLAND (England) - KTM
He won at Dakar in 2017, the first time he had finished the Rally, having had to abandon the race on his four previous outings due to mechanical problems or accidents. Now recovered from the broken leg he suffered at midyear, he's once again a favorite because of his expertise in desert navigation.
Benavides dreams of being the first Western Hemisphere driver to win the motorcycle Dakar. Last year, the Monster Energy Honda Racing driver went head to head for the victory until the final legs, ultimately having to settle for second place, but now he's riding with a competitive rhythm after fighting it out for the world cross country title.