Speedbrain And Hero Connect

Hero MotoCorp is entering international motorsport with its newly formed venture with German off-road racing expert – Speedbrain. The home-grown manufacturer will be participating in the Dakar rally 2017 and has dubbed its team the Hero Motosports Team Rally, comprising two riders – C.S. Santosh and Joaquin Rodrigues – and backed technically by Speedbrain. The technical expert has been into motorcycle rallying for over a decade and can do wonders for Hero at the rally. Let’s take a look at the company’s lineage, the key members, and its accomplishments in the past.

Speedbrain before the venture

The company was started back in 2005 and prepared its first rally bike – the BMW HP2 – for BMW motorsport. The bike was based on a flat boxer twin engine, which is trademark BMW. It won the Erzberg Rodeo – an enduro event, the biggest of its kind in Europe, which takes place in Austria. The win certainly pushed Speedbrain into the big league. It went onto to register a double win at the Pikes Peak in 2006 in Colorado (USA). 

Along came 2007 and Speedbrain was already working on prototypes of BMW’s 450cc rally motorcycle. The bike garnered a lot of praise at the first race of WEC (World Endurance Championship) 2007. By 2008, BMW came back to enduro racing with the newly developed G 450 X. The bike was ridden by Simo Kirssi, who won both the German and European championships in cross-country rallying in the bike’s maiden year. He was also able to secure the first podium finish for BMW Motorrad at WEC.

The success brought immense stardom to Speedbrain, which was more confident than ever. It also attracted a host of new champion riders to BMW Motorrad’s WEC operations. The new riders brought more victories for BMW in the E2 and E3 WEC classes. 

However, what is remarkable here is that these successes prompted Speedbrain to enter the Dakar rally. The decision not only added another feather to Speedbrain’s cap, but brought BMW its first Dakar stage victory in ten years as well. 

In the consecutive year, Speedbrain joined hands with Husqvarna and formed the Husqvarna Rallye Team. The bike was well received at Dakar and performed exceptionally well. For the uninitiated, Husqvarna is a BMW-owned (since 2007) heritage motorcycle company which claims to be dealing with two-wheeled vehicles for over 300 years.

Speedbrain's brains

All of these accomplishments have certainly been possible thanks to the untiring hard work of a bunch of engineers, mechanics and technicians. However, the team manager, Wolfgang Fischer, has played an immense role in taking the team to where it is now. 

Wolfgang had a keen interest in off-road motorcycle racing and had worked with numerous teams and manufacturers for several years. After leaving his mark on the enduro scene, he decided to set up Speedbrain along with two other experts and partnered with BMW Motorrad. Ever since, he has been a very important cog in Speedbrain’s machinery. 

His vast knowledge of enduro motorcycling competitions and experience of working with the best teams made his institution the top choice for Hero MotoCorp. Moreover, according to Hero officials, Fischer and his team will also contribute to future Hero motorcycles, and if we are not asking for too much, which can be an enduro machine or a dual sport motorcycle.

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The chief mechanic, Felipe Barbosa, of Speedbrain has been another important factor in the collaboration between Hero and Speedbrain. With 25 years of experience as a race mechanic, Felipe has an immense role to play in the Dakar rally. He has not only contributed to the development of the bike, but will also play a pivotal role in the upkeep of the Speedbrain 450 during the Dakar.

Hero’s prowess

Hero sure is the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world, but its involvement in motorsport has been negligible in the past. So, entering one of the world’s most dangerous rally races seems like a big step. However, thanks partly to Speedbrain’s expertise, the homegrown manufacturer is very optimistic about its chances in the upcoming competition. And, though the bike is being developed at Speedbrain’s headquarters in Stephanskirchen (Germany), Hero’s financial resources have ensured that the project runs without any hiccups.

Markus Braunsperger, chief technical officer at Hero Motocorp, is not only spearheading the company’s upcoming products, but has also played a big role in the realisation of Hero’s Dakar dreams. Being an avid motorcyclist and racer, rally racing has obviously been on the cards for him. He joined Hero around two years ago and has established the Dakar venture with Speedbrain in a very short time. Before joining Hero, Markus worked with BMW for an incredible 25 years and was involved in the R&D operations of its cars.

The Pilots

Riding the all-new race machines for Hero Motosports Team Rally will be motocross racing expert Joaquim Rodrigues and local star C.S. Santosh. Both the riders competed in the qualifying Merzouga Rally and hope to learn as much as possible before the gala event. 

Out of the two riders, Santosh had previously participated in the Dakar rally and had successfully completed it, which is an achievement in itself. Not to mention, he has been a champ in the major Indian motorcycles rally championships, including the gruesome Raid De Himalaya.

Rodrigues, however, will make his debut at the Dakar rally, as he has recently started rallying, and hopes to learn from the 9000km-long race. According to Speedbrain’s technical team, Rodrigues' riding style is more aggressive than Santosh’s, because of Rod’s Motocross background. Thanks to this, the bikes have to be different for both the riders, which is a must-do when a rally team is planning to scale Dakar.

With all the experience, expertise and techno wizardry that has gone into its making, the team seems to have a solid foundation to stand upon. However, there's much more to the Dakar than all of this. Painstaking attention to detail and testing and re-testing the bikes numerous times in different settings to find the perfect composition for the Dakar are some of the other ingredients required to make a bout at the Dakar rally successful. So, do watch out for our bike-prep feature of Hero Motosports Team Rally.