Photo to be published
Neels Theric
France
Factory rider for KOVE's rally team. At Dakar 2026 he took the manufacturer's three Rally2 class stage wins.
- Three Rally2 stage wins, Dakar 2026
- Factory rider
Rally raid and off-road
KOVE has raced the Dakar since 2023, and also competes in rally raid and in multi-day off-road events. Here is what it did, with the source for every fact at the foot of the page.
The team
KOVE has raced the Dakar since 2023, when the KOVE 450 Rally made its debut and finished the event with all three factory bikes. Today the team competes with the 450 Rally EX, a machine built for competition, and the manufacturer describes that work as a race-to-road cycle: what survives the desert ends up shaping how the production bike is developed.
Riders
Photo to be published
Sunier
China
KOVE factory rider, part of the rally team since 2020.
- Factory rider
- Finished the Dakar on the 450 Rally EX
Where it races
Dakar 2026 — three stage wins
The factory team took three stage wins in the Rally2 class with the 450 Rally EX. KOVE became the first Chinese brand to win Dakar stages.
- KOVE — Dakar 2026 wrap-upManufacturer source · 2026-08-30
- Corsedimoto — the three stage winsIndependent corroboration · 2026-08-30
Taklimakan Rally 2026
The 450 Rally EX raced the Taklimakan, a multi-day desert rally in China.
Photo to be published
- KOVE — rally programmeManufacturer source · 2026-08-30
Red Bull Romaniacs 2026
Eleven riders raced the Red Bull Romaniacs, a hard enduro event in the Carpathian Mountains, on the 800X Rally and the 800X Pro.
Photo to be published
- KOVE — Red Bull Romaniacs 2026Manufacturer source · 2026-08-30
Rallye du Maroc 2025
KOVE raced the Rallye du Maroc, one of the events where the team tests the bike outside the Dakar.
Photo to be published
- KOVE — rally programmeManufacturer source · 2026-08-30
ISDE 2025 — Bergamo
KOVE Italia entered the International Six Days of Enduro on rally bikes instead of enduro bikes, an unusual choice for that event.
- KOVE — ISDE 2025Manufacturer source · 2026-08-30
Dakar 2023 — the debut
KOVE made its Dakar debut with three factory bikes, and all three finished the event.
Photo to be published
- KOVE — Dakar 2026 wrap-upManufacturer source · 2026-08-30
- Corsedimoto — the three stage winsIndependent corroboration · 2026-08-30
Where you can check each figure
Every figure on this page comes from the source that certifies it, and the link sits alongside so you can check it yourself. That is why there are no Dakar overall classification positions or stage numbers here: the event organiser does not expose a consultable Rally2 class table and no independent source corroborates those figures.