He was a Hero factory rider in 2025/early 2026 and contested Dakar 2026 for Hero. After his crash and scaphoid fracture, however, his contract with Hero was not renewed; in May it was reported that he had several new options.
Yes, and it has now been officially confirmed. The announcement only came on 12 August 2026, which is why the matter was not clear-cut beforehand: Tobias Ebster is a factory rider for ZXMOTO. The manufacturer has teamed up with Spain’s Joyride Race Service; the team will compete as the ZX Moto Factory Rally Team.
The bike: ZXMOTO 450 Rally
The key figures known so far are quite interesting: a 449 cc single-cylinder engine, around 60 hp and 128 kg. ZXMOTO describes the 450 Rally as developed without compromise for rally raid; the bike also comes from the circle of engineers who already have experience with Dakar bikes.
The background makes the project particularly exciting: ZXMOTO founder Zhang Xue was previously a co-founder of Kove and played a major part in its Dakar project. He left Kove in 2024 and then founded ZXMOTO.
The plan with Ebster
This is not a pure privateer deal. Joyride runs the factory programme for ZXMOTO, and Ebster has been signed as its top rider. Tests with the 450 Rally have already taken place in Spain.
The first real test is due soon: the Rallye du Maroc from 28 September to 3 October 2026. It is also the project’s planned entry into the World Rally-Raid Championship. The big goal after that is Dakar 2027.
And that is exactly what I find interesting about Ebster: he apparently is not just supposed to ride the bike, but is likely to play an important role in the development of the new factory bike.
Against the KTM 450 Rally Replica/Factory, Honda CRF450 Rally and Hero 450 Rally, ZXMOTO will of course still be an outsider at its first Dakar. But 60 hp at 128 kg is, going by the basic figures, certainly in the right range. The far bigger uncertainty is likely to be reliability over two Dakar weeks: engine, navigation tower, electrics, suspension and above all fast spare-parts supply must first prove under race conditions that they work.
For Tobi this could nonetheless be a really good opportunity: at KTM he would probably be one of several strong riders. At ZXMOTO, by contrast, he is one of the central riders of a new factory team from the outset.
An interview about this new, positive development can be heard on the Dakar.FM Podcast.