The Dakar Rally has just concluded, and needless to say, it was a successful event with victories from the likes of Brabec and Cornejo, and impressive performances from Adrien Van Beveren and Ross Branch. While these racers and all the others who took part in the grueling challenge are indeed the heroes of the Dakar Rally, it’s also interesting to take a look at what goes on behind the scenes.
As you know, Red Bull is the organizing sponsor of the Dakar Rally, and the event itself covers the arid landscape of Saudi Arabia. The hub of the Dakar Rally bivouac occupies a 200,000-square-meter space, serving as a temporary home to more than 3,000 people. In this temporary settlement in the middle of the desert, you’ll find a bustling community all focused on the Dakar Rally. Here, a seemingly self-sufficient community with catering, running water, reliable electricity, medical support, TV satellites, and waste management keeps the wheels of the event turning, and naturally, moving around in this large space on foot can be quite the challenge.
This is why Super73, an American lifestyle adventure brand with an impressive fleet of electric two-wheelers, joined forces with Red Bull to create a custom-built fleet of electric bikes for the team to move through the bivouacs. The collaborative effort indeed made operations smoother, helping the organizing team to navigate throughout the two-wheel event that covers in excess of 5,000 kilometers.
In case you weren’t familiar, Super73’s e-bikes are loaded with performance and robust tech that make them at home in the Dakar Rally’s arid landscape. They’re high-power e-bikes that give you the option to move around either through pedal assist or via a throttle mounted on the handlebar – sort of like a small electric motorcycle. For the Dakar Rally, Super73 provided a fleet of custom S2 bikes. The S2 is marketed as Super73’s “iconic urban cruiser,” and features moto-inspired styling and a powerful 750W motor. This means it has a top speed of 28 miles per hour on pedal assist, and 20 miles per hour on throttle-only operation.
The fleet of custom S2s designed specifically for the Dakar Rally features matte blue paint, a subtle nod to Red Bull’s colors. The bikes were fitted with RX LED headlights and tail lights for optimal visibility at night. Riders were given extra leverage by way of a low-rise handlebar and ODI grips, while a custom saddle with blue leather desert wings added a custom touch. The bikes rolled on chunky GRZLY all-terrain tires which proved capable when tackling the loose and sandy terrain of the event. For added practicality, an in-frame MOLLE panel allowed users to attach all sorts of accessories on the go.
From the images provided to us by Super73, we can see some of Dakar’s top racers making good use of the custom-built S2s. The likes of Toby Price, from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Cristina Gutierrez of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team, and Seth Quintero of Toyota Gazoo Racing all used the S2 to get around when they weren’t racing.
Now, if you want to get your own Super73 S2, the good news is that you can. It’s available on Super73’s official website with a retail price of $3,295 USD. It’s just too bad that you’ll have to miss out on the Dakar-inspired goodies and the blue paintwork.
