After a difficult 2024 season, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing has successfully replenished their ranks ahead of the Rallye du Maroc and 2025 Dakar Rally. On Sunday, the team announced they have signed Luciano Benavides and Daniel Sanders, who will make their débuts in Morocco before being joined by the returning Kevin Benavides at Dakar.
The team switch is a lateral move of sorts for the newcomers. Luciano comes over from Husqvarna Factory Racing while Sanders was previously with Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing, both of whom are owned by Pierer Mobility Group as is KTM. KTM AG rally general manager Andreas Hölzl also serves in the same position for Husqvarna and GasGas.
All three manufacturers opted for a similar, downscaled approach to 2024 due to concerns from Pierer about costs and media exposure. Although Luciano won the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship with Husqvarna, none of the marques’ riders declared for 2024 points and only entered select races like the Dakar. Their absences ended up being enforced when KTM’s Matthias Walkner suffered a serious leg injury in a testing crash before the 2024 Dakar that has kept him off the bike since, his team-mate Toby Price left the outfit in March to focus on four-wheeled racing, and GasGas’ Sam Sunderland retired from full-time racing in July.
Kevin and his younger brother Luciano were slated to return to the W2RC with their respective teams at their home rally, the Desafío Ruta 40 in June, when the former sustained a diffuse axonal injury to his brain in an accident weeks prior. Luciano was then knocked out by a broken right femur on the opening stage of the race.
While Luciano has recovered in time for Morocco, Kevin will continue to heal up until Dakar next January. He never finished worse than second in four of the five rounds in 2023 en route to the title, including a second to Price at the Rallye du Maroc and being the highest finishing points-eligible rider at DR 40. At the Dakar in January, he finished seventh.
“I’ve worked hard over the past few months preparing for Morocco, and it will be a great opportunity to see where we are after our testing,” said the younger Benavides, who returns to KTM after previously racing for them from 2018 to 2020. “Physically, I feel really good in my recovery, and I have spent a lot of time working on roadbooks with the team in both the USA and Argentina. This is the first time that my brother and I will be on the same team, wearing the same colors, so that is super special. To have Daniel alongside us is great, and I think we’re going to be a really strong team. I am still getting used to the new bike, but I always really enjoy this rally, and I have great memories of it from last year.”
Sanders had spent the last three years with GasGas. He won the W2RC’s Sonora Rally in 2023 before breaking his femur in a testing accident, sidelining him until the 2024 Dakar where he placed behind Luciano in eighth. The Australian recorded another eighth in Argentina.
Due to injuries, Sanders has not raced in Morocco since 2021 where he won a stage and finished third. It was GasGas’ maiden podium in an international rally raid, then under sanction by the W2RC’s predecessor FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship.
“It’s been three years since the last time I raced the event, and I managed to get on the podium then, so I’m hoping to do the same again this year,” Sanders commented. “It’s really exciting to be back in the KTM colours and I want to do their hard work justice. It’s great working with the Benavides brothers and I’m sure we’ll be a close-knit team. This rally always serves as great preparation for Dakar as the terrain is so similar. I’m really excited to get back out there and hopefully bring home a trophy.”
Kevin won the Dakar Rally in 2023, his second year with KTM after migrating over from Honda with whom he claimed the 2021 edition. A rash of injuries sidelined him for much of 2023, leaving Dakar and Sonora as his only starts that season. He finished fourth at the 2024 Dakar.
“I feel really positive right now as I’ve spent a lot of time recovering and even though progress is slow, I’m getting closer each day,” the elder Benavides stated. “It was very tough when I had the crash, but I’m always looking ahead to the future. I can’t wait to get back to racing, rally is my passion, and I just want to be back out there. My goal is to be 100% for Dakar, and until then I will support the team as much as possible while I recover, which is why we decided to sit out of Morocco. To be on a team with Luciano is so special, and Daniel is really great too, so the three of us in orange will be pretty cool.”
The Rallye du Maroc is scheduled for 6–11 October.
“It’s been a challenging year for the team, but we have been working hard all season to be ready for the Rallye du Maroc as it is the best preparation for Dakar,” Hölzl added. “We are confident in the new team, especially with everyone in orange. Unfortunately, we are still missing Kevin, but with Luciano, last year’s world champion, and Daniel, a super strong desert rider, we believe it will work out well in Morocco. We’re excited to get racing again.”
