If you’re into motorcycles, you’ll be well aware of all the great things that the British marque, Triumph Motorcycles, is known for. From the all-conquering Tiger ADV range to classic Bonnevilles, from the mental Daytona 675 supersport to the sublime Street Triple range, Triumph knows a thing or two about making motorcycles with breath-taking capabilities.

Now, though, Triumph wants to broaden its horizons as the company is looking to get into competitive motocross and enduro motorcycles. In order to kick off the development of their all-new MX and Enduro (dual sport) operations, Triumph Motorcycles has come up with some big plans. Recently, the British brand announced that it has hired the services of the MX world legend, Ricky Carmichael, and five-time Enduro world champion, Iván Cervantes, to develop their comprehensive new range of competition-spec motocross and enduro machines. The fact that Triumph has joined forces with the likes of Carmichael and Cervantes is quite telling of the company’s ambitions. They definitely mean business.

Joining Forces With Legends: Ricky Carmichael And Iván Cervantes

Iván Cervantes
Via: Triumph

In case you aren’t aware of the aforementioned names. Here’s what their CV looks like...

Let’s start with RC. With a record 15 motocross and five supercross championships, RC is aptly called the “The G.O.A.T” of motocross racing. He has won more than 150 races and was also voted AMA Rider of the year five times during his racing career. RC retired from motocross/supercross racing in 2007 but has since been involved with the sport like many great sportsmen usually do. You can bet that with his racing expertise and mad riding skills, Triumph will surely be able to develop a potent MX screamer.

RC’s partner in the development project, Iván Cervantes, is no less of a legend as the Spaniard is a five-time world champion in Enduro racing. When he was 23 years old, Ivan became the first Spanish rider to be crowned the champion in the EnduroGP E1 category. This was followed by three titles in EnduroGP and one title in FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup championship. Apparently, he also participated in Dakar Rally. Fair to say that he’s the right guy for the job.

With Carmichael and Cervantes on board, Triumph is definitely looking at the big picture here. While the company wants to ‘race and win at the highest level in the sport’ with this new development project, the magic of those race-spec machines will definitely trickle down to their off-road range of street motorcycles eventually. That said, if you’ve ridden a Tiger 900 Rally Pro or the Scrambler 1200, you’ll know that Triumph’s pretty handy at making off-road motorcycles. And the new development team will only help them improve these products further. At the same time, you can expect a brand-new range of motocross and dual-sport motorcycles from Triumph to enter the market soon. The kind of stuff that’s already offered by brands like Honda, KTM, Kawasaki, et al. That said, the company’s main aim will be to build race-winning motorcycles. They haven’t signed these multiple championship winners for no reason.

Related: This Is Why The Triumph Trident 660 Is The Best Beginner Motorcycle

What Bikes to Expect And When?

tiger-900-rally-pro
Via: Triumph

You won’t be seeing Triumph’s new range of motocross or dual-sport motorcycles anytime soon, although they should be out in a couple of months. What to expect? Well, initially, Triumph is likely to bring light off-roaders – something in the range of 250-300cc displacement. However, you can be sure of bigger and more powerful 450-500cc bikes to follow suit. What’s more, Triumph is expected to sell these motorcycles to customers as well. In addition to competition-spec dirt-bikes, street-legal dual sport motorcycles will also be produced.

And don't be misled by the picture above. It's a Tiger 900 Rally Pro, shown only for representation purposes.

Related:2021 Triumph Tiger 850 Sport Review

An Ambitious But Promising Project

At this point, Triumph’s racing plans sound quite ambitious. However, they’re going into this with full conviction. Whether they will succeed in their endeavor or not, only time will tell. But given the company's efforts, it definitely looks like they are planning to take part in competitive off-road events and races for a very long time. These sorts of plans aren’t made overnight, they must have thought about it long and hard before taking up this challenge.

As for Triumph’s experience in competitive racing, Triumph became the exclusive engine supplier for the Moto2 series in MotoGP from 2019. As the sole engine maker for the intermediate class of MotoGP, Triumph supplies 765cc three-cylinder engines to all the participating teams. This is the same powerplant that does duty in the company’s Street Triple RS roadster, albeit it develops over 140 hp in the race-spec bike, which makes it roughly 17% more powerful than the production motorcycle. The Moto2-spec bikes, powered by Triumph’s three-cylinder screamer, can clock over 300kmph (186 mph).

On the whole, we’re expecting to see some great things unfold from Triumph’s collaboration with Ricky Carmichael and Iván Cervantes. Not to mention, the arrival of a new brand into the world of off-road and dirt bike racing will only make things spicier for us fans.