Skyler Howes has found a new employer. The 34-year-old American is joining the ZXMOTO Joyride Factory Rally Team and will help develop the brand-new ZXMOTO 450 Rally from the Chinese manufacturer. His debut in the new colours is already on the calendar: at the end of this month he will line up at the start of the Rallye du Maroc, where ZXMOTO competes in the Rally-Raid World Championship (W2RC) as a factory team for the first time.
The move follows a period of uncertainty surrounding one of the most recognisable riders in the rally-raid world. Howes rode three seasons for Monster Energy Honda HRC, but the partnership came to an end in the first half of 2026. His next destination had been the subject of speculation ever since. That question has now been answered, and the answer is remarkable: not an established European manufacturer, but a brand that has existed for only a few years.
From Honda to a blank canvas
Howes closed his Honda chapter in style. In the Dakar Rally of January 2026, his last for the Japanese factory team, he finished fourth in the overall standings and also claimed his very first Dakar stage win. He then rode the Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina in May, where he came fifth. Through the American summer he remained active within the Honda family via JCR Honda (Johnny Campbell Racing): together with Preston Campbell he finished second in mid-August in the reverse edition of Vegas to Reno, one of the toughest desert races in North America.
With that background, ZXMOTO brings in a rider who delivers exactly what a young project needs: experience at the very highest level. In his own words, Howes sees it above all as a chance to work with a manufacturer from the very beginning and to be involved in the development of the bikes and the team. Level-headed, he added that so far he has only spent a few hours on the bike and is now being thrown straight in at the deep end heading to Morocco.
A CV that explains the choice
Howes’s story is one of perseverance and self-belief. To be able to fund the Dakar as a privateer, he once sold nearly everything he owned. That bet on himself paid off: in 2021 he finished fifth in the Dakar with the Dutch BAS World team and, for the second year running, was the highest-placed privateer. That result eventually earned him a three-year factory contract with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna.
Since then he has grown into a fixture in rally-raid. A professional since 2012, he has amassed dozens of victories, including in the Sonora Rally, the American Baja Rally, Vegas to Reno and the Morocco Desert Challenge (2019). He took part in the Dakar Rally eight times between 2019 and 2026; his best result came in 2023, when he finished third on a Husqvarna, becoming only the fifth American ever to stand on the Dakar podium.
That combination of speed, development experience and name recognition is exactly what an up-and-coming brand is looking for. The team describes the signing in similar terms: with Howes’s years of top-level experience, ZXMOTO wants to take the 450 Rally “to a higher level” and work towards a bike capable of fighting at the front.
Who is ZXMOTO?
Behind ZXMOTO stands Zhang Xue, a name familiar to those in the know. Zhang was a co-founder and later a director of Kove Moto, the Chinese brand that broke through surprisingly quickly in the Dakar and on the international road-racing circuit in recent years. In early 2024 he reportedly left Kove over differences of opinion about the company’s direction, and then founded ZXMOTO (in full, Chongqing Zhang Xue Motorcycle Industry), named after his initials. The brand was publicly presented at the end of 2025, including at the EICMA show in Milan.
ZXMOTO, like Kove before it, is placing a clear emphasis on racing. In the World Supersport Championship, the brand became the first Chinese manufacturer to win a race in that class in its 2026 debut season. With Frenchman Valentin Debise (Evan Bros) it now sits second in the championship. The brand has also confirmed plans for a full MXGP programme from 2027, with two riders and a bike developed between China and Europe. In that season ZXMOTO, together with Kove, would be one of two Chinese manufacturers in the premier class of motocross, while China gets two MXGP rounds on the calendar that same year (Shanghai and the new Ziyang).
The rally programme fits the same picture. The ZXMOTO Joyride Factory Rally Team was announced in August and is built around Spain’s Joyride Race Service, an outfit that previously worked with KTM. Alongside Howes, Tobias Ebster also made the switch, coming from Hero. The Austrian will compete in Morocco in the Rally2 class, while Howes rides in the top RallyGP class. The Rallye du Maroc counts not only as the brand’s first W2RC appearance, but also as a stepping stone towards the ultimate goal: the 2027 Dakar Rally.
Ambition versus reality
The announcement looks impressive, but warrants a degree of caution. ZXMOTO has a striking racing record but a remarkably short history. Success in the World Supersport Championship does not automatically translate to rally-raid, where even established factory teams usually need years to compete at the front. The financial figures underline the nature of the project: a loss was recorded over 2025, while the company’s valuation exceeded one billion yuan in early 2026. That is the profile of a brand investing heavily and using racing as a shop window.
Expectations for the Rallye du Maroc should therefore be realistic. A debut at W2RC level with a bike still very much in development, and with a team leader who has spent only a few hours on it, is above all a first test in the desert rather than a hunt for a result. That is precisely where Howes’s value lies: not only as a fast rider, but as a developer who knows what a bike needs to last across multiple editions of the Dakar. Whether ZXMOTO can actually take that step at this pace remains to be seen in the coming months. The first indications will come between 26 September and 3 October, in the sands of southern Morocco.
