Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team created ahead of 2023 Dakar Rally

For the 2023 off-road racing season, Red Bull will join forces with a UTV powerhouse. On Tuesday, the energy drink company announced a partnership with Can-Am to form the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team and a new-look Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team that will compete in the World Rally-Raid Championship and North American desert racing. As part of the new deal, the programme’s six drivers will all race the Can-Am Maverick X3 prepared by South Racing.

From their inception in 2020, the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team had used the OT3 from Overdrive Racing. The car enjoyed tremendous success at the 2022 Dakar Rally when Seth Quintero won all but one stage in the T4 class. After Quintero suffered a stage retirement that knocked him out of category overall contention, Austin Jones went on to win for Monster Energy but will migrate to the rival energy drink brand and Junior Team for 2023. Jones finished third in the W2RC T4 standings and has also won his class at the Baja 1000 twice.

Mitch Guthrie returns to the Junior Team, three months removed from winning the inaugural California 300 in September.

Rokas Baciuška held off Marek Goczał and Jones for the 2022 World Rally-Raid T4 title. The Lithuanian was already a Can-Am driver for South Racing, but can now add Red Bull athlete to his burgeoning résumé. By joining the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team, Baciuška will move up to T3 for 2023.

Cristina Gutiérrez and Francisco López Contardo return to the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team. López won the T3 championship ahead of Quintero and Gutiérrez.

“I think there are a lot of [future] legends coming up right now and our generation of drivers, coming into the sport at the same time, is one of the fastest that rally has ever seen,” said Quintero.

All six will compete at the Dakar Rally beginning 31 December. Besides the other four W2RC legs, American Red Bull racers Jones, Guthrie, and Quintero will also take part in their home country’s events such as King of the Hammers, the Mint 400, and Best In The Desert.

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