Rally Great Announces Retirement
T
wo-time Dakar Rally
Champion and FIM
World Rally-Raid Champion
Sam Sunderland is retiring
from professional motor-
cycle racing.
Sunderland, 35, started
his rally career with Honda
on the early CRF450 Rally
bikes and won his first
stage at Dakar. In 2014,
the Brit made a high-profile
switch to KTM and won the
Morocco Rally in 2015 and
Qatar in 2016 and became
Britain's first Dakar winner
in South America in 2017.
Sunderland moved over to
GasGas for the 2022 and
won the 2022 Dakar Rally
on the GasGas RX 450F. He
went on to claim the FIM World
Rally-Raid Championship the
same year.
"It is with gratitude, humility,
a bit of sadness, but without
regret, that I announce my
retirement from motorcycle
racing after having a career that
I dreamed of once upon a time,"
said Sunderland. "From winning
two World Championships to
my two Dakar victories, it's been
an incredible run. I would like to
thank everyone that has been
a part of this chapter, and I'm
looking forward to staying close
to the team and playing a part in
supporting their race efforts in
the future."
"We would like to say a
massive thank you to Sam for
his time with Red Bull GasGas
Factory Racing," said Rally Team
Manager Andreas Holzl. "I speak
for the whole team when I say
we're sad to hear that Sam is
retiring from racing, but we com
-
pletely respect his decision and
thank him for everything he has
done for us over the years. Be-
yond being a phenomenal racer,
Sam is a fantastic person—al-
ways supportive, motivating and
a true team player. He is a huge
part of the GasGas family, and
we look forward to working with
him again in new and exciting
ways in the future."
CN
WIND
IN THE
P40
Brit rally star Sam Sunderland
says he is hanging up his boots
at 35 years of age.
