After a 23-year absence, Honda has officially announced that it will take part in the 2013 edition of the Dakar Rally.

The Honda team will consist of four riders including Helder Rodrigues (Portugal), Felipe Zanol (Brazil), Sam Sunderland (United Kingdom) and Javier Pizzolito (Argentina). They will travel through Peru, Chile and Argentina with a prototype machine developed and produced by Honda's Motorcycle R&D Centre.

''The Dakar requires competitors to cover several hundred kilometres per day for more than two weeks. […] Honda has put a great deal of effort into designing and building a powerful and winning machine. We are aiming for the championship from this first year,'' said Tetsuo Suzuki, Senior Managing Officer and Director, Chief Operating Officer, Motorcycle R&D Centre, Honda R&D Co., Ltd.

Photo: Honda