A decade of Hero MotoSports: A celebration of ten years in international rallying

Hero MotoCorp’s MotoSports Team Rally has been up to so much good and then some for the past decade. Its HQ at the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CIT), Jaipur became the epicentre for the celebrations. In attendance were the team’s rallying greats such as 2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Champion (W2RC) Ross Branch, Nacho Cornejo – South American rallying star, South African 2R and motocross rider Michael Docherty shared the stage with India’s rookie on the rise, Shlok Ghorpade, ISRL’s fastest national racer and Somya ‘Moksha’ Chaudhary – a pioneer in professional riding for women. The brand also announced an extension of its partnership with Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), who have played an instrumental role for Hero in the Dakar Rally. At the event, Hero MotoSports also launched 'India's Next Dakar Hero', a youth rally programme that will act as a launchpad for fresh talent.

This formal foray into motorsports was initiated in 2016, when Hero’s MotoSport – a ‘Rally-Raid’ division was founded. The Indian OEM took part in its first Dakar Rally in 2017 with India’s first Dakar rider, C.S. Santosh and his team of Portuguese origin, Joaquim Rodrigues. From that resounding start, Hero MotoSports stepped into the arena of W2RC in 2022. In 2024, the team finished in an overall 2nd place. Later that same year, factory rider Ross Branch was crowned the 2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Champion. Rallying is a team sport and there’s so much more to the team that meets the eye. Hero’s team architects such as Head of MotoSports and Team Manager, Wolfgang ‘Waffi’ Fischer, along with Spanish rally expert and Head of National MotoSports, Jordi Grau were all present at the event. Also in store, was a showcase of team Hero’s Dakar machines and specially curated performances by trained professionals.

Dr. Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman, Hero MotoCorp, reflected on the brand’s achievement and said “Over the past decade, Hero MotoSports Team Rally has evolved from a bold ambition into a globally respected rally racing team, proudly representing India on the world stage. This milestone celebrates our past achievements while firmly defining our vision for the future.”

Hero MotoSports announced three major strategic plans, which will write the narrative of the next 10 years to come. Firstly, a global-level rallying programme for the youth called ‘India’s Next Dakar Hero’ was launched by Dr. Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman, Hero MotoCorp – unfolding an initiative to incubate and train India’s next-gen rally-raid talent. This programme will involve a rigorous two-to-three-year development period, focussing on riding technique, navigation, physical conditioning and endurance training to face the challenges at the highest strata of international rally racing. The foundation of this initiative was laid in September of 2025, Arun Thayappa – India’s racing prodigy who made his debut in international rally-raid at the Cierzo Rally in Spain, atop the Hero 450 Rally prototype.

Secondly, the partnership between Hero MotoSports and Amaury Sports Organisation stands renewed for the next 5 years, turning it into a long-term collaboration to take on the legendary Dakar Rally and W2RC.

Thirdly, the brand made a formal announcement for signing and welcoming Indian off-road racer – Shlok Ghorpade, from Satara, Maharashtra into its fold. He’s already taken the National Supercross circuit by storm with all the major titles under his belt. His training with FIM World Rally-Raid Champion Ross Branch is already underway. Shlok also proved his mettle by becoming the fastest national racer in the Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL).

With a showcase of its world-class riders’ roster, Hero MotoSports Team also presented the attendees with a showcase of the team’s Dakar machines – not at a standstill but representing its calibre of traversing world’s toughest rally stages through a series of special off-road performance by team’s supremely competent riders.