Hoto Motorcycle has only been around for about a year, but they’re already winners of the biggest rally raid in their home country.

The 20th Taklimakan Rally was as good as it got for the nascent bike company. Martin Michek, who usually races a KTM at the Dakar Rally in the premier RallyGP class, led the way with a near perfect second half. Arūnas Gelažninkas and Shi Haoyu joined him on the podium to complete a 1–2–3 for Hoto.

Michek set the tone early by winning the first stage ahead of fellow Dakar veterans Gelažninkas and Fang Mingji. The latter’s son Fang Xiangliang got lost early on and ultimately did not finish the rally due to mechanical issues.

While Michek won SS3, a crash in the leg meant Gelažninkas’ runner-up was far closer than comfortable. Gelažninkas, one of Hoto’s factory riders who debuted the team at Dakar, took the overall lead after the halfway mark at Stage 4 with a time of 11:53:43, 12 minutes over Michek. Still, he had little margin for error, especially after a GPS glitch caused him to miss a waypoint. Shi ran third ahead of the younger Fang.

Gelažninkas’ time at the front did not last long, however. Michek made up the gap in his Stage 5 win and beat him by 20 minutes to reclaim the lead. Save for his navigation equipment nearly glitching out in SS8, the second half of the rally was smooth sailing for Michek as he won out. Gelažninkas finished 21:35 back ahead of Shi, who raced conservatively in the final days to preserve his podium place.

Ma Weiziao’s KTM placed fourth. Kove Moto, who won the 2024 Taklimakan for bikes and some of whose remnants Hoto was born from, was led by ninth-placed Suleiman Daguti.

Zhou He won the two-man battle in ATV, where both riders rode QJMOTOR ATV1000s. Aili Ahemaiti was hit with steam and scalding water while working on his quad in Stage 2, burning his right hand; he rejoined the race after getting some cold water poured on it. The injury persisted throughout the rally, but he managed to reach the finish.

Sandstorms plagued the rally from the first day. Car runner-up Tao Yongming noted it got so bad in Stage 4 that he could barely see 20 meters in front of him. The conditions worsened to the point where Stage 9 had to be shortened. Besides sand, water also put a damper on many drivers’ days; for example, Wang Heping’s KP1 got stranded in a water crossing in SS4. Li Tong finished at the back after retiring in SS8 because he and his navigator Zhang Tao were feeling unwell, the latter having to be extracted from the stage via ambulance.

Liu Yangui’s Toyota Hilux beat Tao for the car victory. His strategy was less on winning stages but on taking the overall lead and protecting it. It seemed to work quite nicely as he finished second to Fan Gaoxiang in SS1, then ran up front each day to hold the overall lead at midway by five minutes over Zhu Guanghai. While Zhu would eventually drop out of the top ten, Liu stayed out of trouble save for getting lost a few times to score the win.

Dakar regular and defending Taklimakan car champion Wei Han retired. He lost a lot of time in SS3 after ending up in the wrong direction before bowing out.

W2RC regular Aliyyah Koloc made her Taklimakan Rally debut and racing return, having fully recovered from her crash at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in February. The race didn’t exactly go as she had hoped: she received a ten-minute penalty, broke a driveshaft two days later, then retired from Stage 6 and did not start the seventh because the turbo failed. Koloc rejoined the rally for SS8 only to suffer a damaged drivetrain and front end after contact with another car.

“It was a learning rally for me as a driver and for the team,” said Koloc. “The support in China was incredible, the terrain was beautiful, and the competition was very strong. I’ve learned a lot, and I want to come back stronger. Maybe next time, I’ll even learn some Chinese to be able to speak more with the other competitors.”

Despite everything, she brought her Red-Lined REVO home in 43rd.

“Our biggest takeaway is that we now have a much clearer idea of what needs to be done to improve the car,” offered her father and team boss Martin Koloc. “The rally also allowed us to test new oils, and the data has been very promising. We will be back next year, better prepared and aiming higher.”

Great Wall Motor’s reborn rally raid division enjoyed a podium sweep of the T2 class with Liang Zhihui’s Tank 300 ahead of the Shanhai Cannons of Li Jianbin and Zhang Ha. The mother–daughter duo of Sun Xiangyan and Ma Xin encountered a myriad of issues on their Haval H9 such as a total brake failure and flats without a spare, but finished seventh in class.

Li Yifei, the only woman on a bike, reaggravated an old shoulder injury in SS6 but was able to finish 16th on her Hoto.

Two actors from the Chinese film scene, Han Dongjun and Wu Jing, respectively finished 53rd in T1 and ninth for UTVs. The former, also known as Elvis Han, raced with his father Han Xuefeng as navigator.

Car

T1

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	1	108	Liu Yangui	Chen Feng	Shaanxi Yunxiang Club	T1+	27:08:15	Leader
2	2	102	Tao Yongming	Shen Xin	Hebei Qian’an Jiujiang Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Club	T1+	27:25:24	+ 17:09
3	3	126	Lin Dewei	Wang Yang	Dornay Shock Absorber Team	T1+	28:36:17	+ 1:28:02
4	4	101	Sun Ping	Liao Min	Yan’an Wine Industry Wuhai Speed Sports Club	T1+	28:37:34	+ 1:29:19
5	5	116	Wang Shilin	Liu Zhigang	Gansu TV Chiyue Sports Racing Team	T1+	29:32:51	+ 2:24:36
6	6	132	Liu Yatuan	Sha He	Yan’an Wine Industry Wuhai Speed Sports Club	T1+	29:45:47	+ 2:37:32
7	7	127	Ou Zhibin	Zhao Kai	Hebei Qian’an Jiujiang Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Club	T1+	30:07:07	+ 2:58:52
8	8	109	Zhang Ming	Qin Xu	Shaanxi Yunxiang Club	T1+	30:56:56	+ 3:48:14
9	9	111	Ying Rong	Lian Juntao	Shaanxi Yunxiang Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Club	T1+	31:18:13	+ 4:09:58
10	10	104	Fan Gaoxiang	Fu Liguo	Hebei Qian’an Jiujiang Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Club	T1+	31:19:21	+ 4:11:06
11	11	106	Zhu Guanghai	Chen Qingkai	Dornay Shock Absorber Team	T1+	31:24:59	+ 4:16:44
12	12	122	Ma Yuan	Tain Yu	Hard Tiger Racing Team	T1+	32:03:01	+ 4:54:46
13	13	115	Sun Hao	Wang Dongdong	Mingyuan Industry Chengde Leifeng CR7 Racing Team	T1+	32:15:47	+ 5:07:32
14	14	166	Han Jianqiang	Shang Liangliang	Shanxi Huajian Renwoxing Fleet Team 2	T1+	32:40:17	+ 5:32:02
15	15	128	Peng Furen	Yang Wei	Qujing Tianfuyuan Off-Road Vehicle Club	T1+	33:10:22	+ 6:02:07
16	16	173	Zhang Biaobiao	Wang Xiaofeng	Gansu TV Chiyue Sports Racing Team	T1+	33:30:22	+ 6:02:07
17	17	160	Song Kun	Fu Xinming	Ningxia Southern Mall Eagle Racing Team	T1.2	33:31:46	+ 6:23:31
18	18	171	Liu Jinhu	Li Zhiming	Shanxi Huajian Renwoxing Fleet Team 2	T1.2	33:37:16	+ 6:29:01
19	19	133	Tianpo	Hasmuren	Hanwei Motorsport	T1+	33:40:04	+ 6:31:49
20	20	159	Aorigele	Wu Dajun	Chery Racing Team	T1.1	34:18:36	+ 7:10:21
21	21	120	Gao Feng	Wang Shaowei	Giti Tire GFsport Team	T1+	34:28:33	+ 7:20:18
22	22	169	Tian Baoguang	Liu Sheng	Shanxi Huajian Renwoxing Fleet Team 2	T1+	34:32:18	+ 7:24:03
23	23	161	Guoguangbao	Liu Wei	Hard Tiger Racing Team	T1+	34:32:35	+ 7:24:20
24	24	163	Guo Zhongnan	Zhang Jianbing	Qujing Tianfuyuan Off-Road Vehicle Club	T1+	34:35:10	+ 7:26:55
25	26	183	Zhang Lijing	Zhong Shixin	K-MAN Hard Tiger Racing Team	T1.2	34:46:26	+ 7:38:11
26	30	167	Zhang Jinbing	Huang Fengge	Shanxi Huajian Renwoxing Fleet Team 1	T1.1	37:34:36	+ 10:26:21
27	31	152	Lin Jie	Wang Zhiqiang	Xinjiang Bayi Steel Team	T1.1	38:07:35	+ 10:59:20
28	32	188	Wang Guorui	Peng Yibo	Dragon Pulse Racing	T1+	38:14:47	+ 11:39:32
29	33	179	Wang Chuanling	Huang Zhifeng	Yongtao Group Shumeng Capital CR6 Racing Team	T1.2	38:50:19	+ 11:42:04
30	38	117	Wang Wenlin	Wu Gang	Ningxia Southern Mall Eagle Racing Team	T1.2	55:36:14	+ 28:27:59
31	40	175	Huang Weijia	Guo Jun	Gansu TV Chiyue Sports Racing Team Division 2	T1+	60:35:43	+ 33:27:28
32	41	138	Zuo Xiangbing	Lian Junjie	Xinjiang Bayi Steel Team	T1.1	61:03:34	+ 33:55:19
33	42	158	Hu Yunfei	Wang Haiyang	Chery Racing Team	T1.1	62:25:09	+ 35:16:54
34	43	150	Xue Pengpeng	Yao Yong	Xinjiang Bayi Steel Team	T1.1	70:09:16	+ 43:01:01
35	45	136	Liu Hexin	Wu Jun	Henan Funike Racing Team	T1+	74:45:43	+ 47:37:28
36	46	112	Jie Yungang	Bai Lu	Shaanxi Yunxiang Club	T1+	75:08:42	+ 48:00:27
37	47	182	Li Dazhi	Yang Tao	Sand Lizard Shock Absorber 61 Team	T1.2	78:24:23	+ 51:16:08
38	48	119	Zhao Yuqiao	Gui Haibo	Hebei Qian’an Jiujiang Automobile and Motorcycle Sports Club	T1.3	87:12:25	+ 60:04:10
39	50	105	Lu Binglong	Gao Zhenwei	Dornay Shock Absorber Team	T1+	94:00:03	+ 66:51:48
40	51	185	Shen Shenglei	Wang Benyou	K-MAN Hard Tiger Racing Team	T1.2	96:00:53	+ 68:52:38
41	52	172	Su Haotian	Ma Wenke	Gansu TV Chiyue Sports Racing Team	T1+	96:29:32	+ 69:21:17
42	53	165	Chen Yongxian	Zhou Yejun	Qujing Tianfuyuan Off-Road Vehicle Club	T1.1	98:17:44	+ 71:09:29
43	55	191	Aliyyah Koloc	Sébastien Delaunay	Buggyra ZM Racing	T1+	105:41:39	+ 78:33:24
44	56	135	Zhang Guoyu	Wang Yicheng	Driving A Team	T1.2	106:38:35	+ 79:30:20
45	57	187	Wang Hongjiang	Yu Zeshun	Sand Lizard Shock Absorber 61 Team	T1.2	110:47:17	+ 83:39:02
46	58	113	Fei Wei	Qu Shanshun	Henan Funike Racing Team	T1+	115:16:53	+ 88:08:38
47	59	186	Wang Heping	Li Yanyi	Hard Tiger Racing Team	T1+	115:42:58	+ 88:34:43
48	60	137	Zhang Rongbin	Wu Leida	Henan Funike Racing Team	T1.3	141:18:58	+ 114:10:34
49	62	177	Yang Shuai	Liu Yuan	Gansu TV Chiyue Sports Racing Team 3	T1.2	148:52:25	+ 121:44:10
50	64	190	Sun Zhibing	Huang Sheng	Hebei Brothers Off-Road Team	T1+	166:25:03	+ 139:16:48
51	67	168	Zhang Peng	Wu Jun	Shanxi Huajian Renwoxing Fleet Team 1	T1+	200:38:32	+ 173:30:17
52	69	129	Li Xinyu	Wang Yirong	Chengde Leifeng Qisu Station CR6 Team	T1.2	239:00:11	+ 211:51:56
53	72	157	Han Dongjun	Han Xuefeng	Chery Racing Team	T1.1	273:30:23	+ 246:22:08
54	74	156	Zhu Hui	Liu Hailin	Heilongjiang Longjia Xianyue Rally Art Team	T1.1	309:08:21	+ 282:00:06

T2

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	34	257	Liang Zhihui	Shi Zesen	Sand Lizard Shock Absorber 61 Team	T2.3	42:07:12	Leader
2	36	206	Li Jianbin	Zhang Shiyu	Great Wall Haval Racing Team	T2.1	48:35:06	+ 6:27:54
3	44	205	Zhang Ya	Bai Yao	Great Wall Cannon V6 Team	T2.1	74:43:07	+ 32:35:55
4	54	251	Xu Yuandong	Song Haitao	Zhengzhou Nissan Sailun Tire Team	T2.3	104:39:26	+ 62:32:14
5	61	256	Ran Yong	Xu Feng	Aralta Desert Team of the 1st Division of the Corps	T2.3	145:48:54	+ 103:41:42
6	65	201	Hu Aidong	Sun Haishuang	Great Wall Haval Racing Team	T2.1	166:42:07	+ 124:34:55
7	66	207	Sun Xiangyan	Ma Xin	Great Wall Haval Racing Team	T2.1	197:02:40	+ 154:55:28
8	68	202	He Zijian	He Wei	Great Wall Haval Racing Team	T2.1	209:08:31	+ 167:01:19
9	71	252	Jia Peng	Liu Xingyi	Zhengzhou Nissan Sailun Tire Team	T2.3	256:18:39	+ 214:11:27
10	73	253	Li Tong	Zhang Tao	Zhengzhou Nissan Sailun Tire Team		293:47:41	+ 251:40:29

UTV

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Class	Total Time	Margin
1	25	309	Niu Yuehua	Liu Yuan	Hao Daxia Niu Honghong Black Bear Tire Team	T3	34:45:45	Leader
2	27	306	Taoye	Li Lei	Ocean Romance Fleet	T3	34:58:24	+ 12:39
3	28	303	Li Yu	Miao Jinhua	Jidao Sports Black Bear Tire Team	T3	36:16:26	+ 1:30:41
4	29	308	Hao Xingyu	He Rongzhe	Hao Daxia Niu Honghong Black Bear Tire Team	T3	37:16:14	+ 2:30:29
5	35	317	Wulijimuren	Zhang Xingtao	Bombardier Ruixing Team	T4	47:06:46	+ 12:21:01
6	37	302	Wang Qingxi	Ma Miao	Jidao Sports Black Bear Tire Team	T3	51:39:53	+ 16:54:08
7	39	305	Liu Zongwei	Yao Bin	Jidao Sports Black Bear Tire Team	T3	55:54:50	+ 21:09:05
8	49	301	Zhao Shanpeng	Guo Feng	Jidao Sports Black Bear Tire Team	T3	88:41:58	+ 53:56:13
9	63	316	Wu Jing	Liang Dongdong	Driving A Team	T4	150:12:00	+ 115:26:15
10	70	315	Wang Xiaoming	Lyu Jingke	Bombardier Ruixing Team	T4	242:29:24	+ 207:43:39

Bike

Motorcycle

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	1	23	Martin Michek	Hoto Factory Racing	28:31:04	Leader
2	2	2	Arūnas Gelažninkas	Hoto Factory Racing	28:52:39	+ 21:35
3	3	17	Shi Haoyu	Hoto Factory Racing	29:54:36	+ 1:23:32
4	4	8	Ma Weiziao	Guyue Rally Team	31:39:17	+ 3:08:13
5	5	11	Abbas Ghapar	Xinjiang Bayi Steel Team	31:42:16	+ 3:11:12
6	6	3	Fang Mingji	Hoto Factory Racing	33:04:04	+ 4:3:00
7	7	7	Guanqigesu Rong	Guyue Rally Team	33:53:53	+ 5:22:49
8	8	12	Aizihaier Ghapar	Xinjiang Bayi Steel Team	34:45:12	+ 6:14:08
9	9	15	Suleiman Daguti	Xinjiang Bayi Steel Team	34:50:13	+ 6:19:09
10	10	18	Peng Yang	Jiuqikong Car Rally Team	42:43:14	+ 14:12:10
11	11	10	Li Dezhi	Star Team	43:56:13	+ 15:25:09
12	13	20	Zhang Qianyuetong	Dingxin Copper Industry Rally Team	77:23:43	+ 48:52:39
13	15	9	Sika	Dingxin Copper Industry Rally Team	140:19:18	+ 111:48:14
14	16	16	Li Yifei	Hoto Factory Racing	148:11:55	+ 119:40:51
15	17	26	Zhao Lei	Dingxin Copper Industry Rally Team	177:35:46	+ 149:04:42
16	18	21	Wang Yifan	CP91 Team	290:44:40	+ 262:13:36

ATV

Finish	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time	Margin
1	12	62	Zhou He	Qianjiang Panda Racing Team	60:46:31	Leader
2	14	61	Aili Ahemaiti	Qianjiang Panda Racing Team	99:59:22	+ 39;12:51

Featured image credit: Hoto Motorcycle