Alpinestars support for Monster Energy Honda Team provides class-leading technical off-road and enduro footwear, apparel and protection, beginning with the Dakar Rally, which starts January 2, 2017.
Under the terms of the agreement, Alpinestars will kit out official Honda factory riders Joan Barreda, Ricky Brabec, Paulo Gonçalves and Michael Metge as they set out from Paraguay at the start of the 39th edition of world’s most challenging rally.
The Monster Energy Team will compete exclusively in Alpinestars off-road racing products, which are designed and developed in R&D facilities in the US and Europe to offer the latest protection, performance and comfort benefits. The team will also benefit from a range of custom Alpinestars technical outerwear, plus premium tech layers and protection products, all of which are engineered to perform in the grueling conditions encountered on the Dakar trails.
Tetsuhiro Kuwata, HRC Director, pointed out that “HRC and Alpinestars have maintained a close rapport of technical collaboration over the years in different motorsport disciplines. This is why we are so proud that we can increase our relationship to include the riders of the Monster Energy Honda Team who will have high-tech, high-performance material available to them for a competition as demanding as the Rally Dakar”.
Likewise, Gabriele Mazzarolo, Chairman and CEO of Alpinestars commented: “Alpinestars’ support for the Monster Energy Honda Team is a natural extension of Alpinestars long-standing co-operation with Honda in many diverse forms of motorsports and motorcycling activities. From countless motocross and road racing championships to their own team in Formula 1, Alpinestars and Honda have raced together for many decades. The high performance riding equipment that Alpinestars has developed for the Honda Team riders for the 2017 Dakar and other international rally raid events features the very latest, cutting edge, materials and construction technologies to ensure the ultimate in comfort and protection for some of the toughest riding challenges in motorcycle sport.”
The Dakar Rally 2017 gets underway in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, on January 2nd. Riders will have to cover 9,000 kilometres that take in every type of terrain and will be forced to endure temperatures ranging from -3 degrees to 45 degrees Celsius. The 39th edition of the event concludes in Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 14th January.
