Honda has unveiled its new 2013 CRF450 Rally model at the 2012 International Motorcycle, Scooter and Bike Fair in Germany, the new bike will compete in the 2013 Dakar Rally to be held next January.

The bike has been developed with the aim of putting the fuel efficiency and endurance technology developed for its commercial vehicles to new challenges and, in turn, use the technology acquired from the race in commercial applications.

The CRF450 Rally is based on Honda’s commercial CRF450X enduro racing model, and is fitted with Honda’s Programmed Fuel Injection (PGM-FI*) electronic fuel injection system to ensure fuel efficiency and durability. Honda will be aiming for its first rally victory with a model based on a production machine.

The CRF450 Rally model currently under development has already undergone testing in Japan and will be ridden in its first race at the Morocco Rally 2012 from 14 October.

The five riders set to compete in the Dakar Rally will ride the Morocco Rally mainly to gather data, identify any problems with the machine under race conditions, and pinpoint any operational issues.

Johnny Campbell (USA), an 11-time US Baja 1000 champion, will join the four riders already announced for Honda’s 2013 Dakar challenge – Helder Rodrigues (Portugal), Felipe Zanol (Brazil), Sam Sunderland (United Kingdom) and Javier Pizzolito (Argentina) to complete the five-man Honda team.