The Albury-based rider will compete in the ‘Original By Motul’ class where he will be one of just 35 riders who have qualified for the event.

The Original By Motul class was formerly known as Malle Moto and is regarded as one of the toughest competitions in world motorsport.

Part of the requirements for the class is that riders receive absolutely no outside help or assistance at any stage of the event.

“When you look again at the rules of the Original By Motul class I wonder to myself, ‘what the hell am I doing’,” laughed Houlihan.

“It will be quite different to my last two Dakars where I was sleeping in the warm kitted out Coca Cola assistance truck each night, had two mechanics, a cook and physio and only had to worry about riding the bike each day.

“For Dakar 2025 I will have a tent, a sleeping bag and an 80-litre crate to carry all my spare parts and be responsible for all my own mechanical work and any repairs.

“Any outside assistance results in disqualification from the race.”

Not only has Houlihan decided to tackle the new class, he is doing it in possibly the toughest Dakar event ever.

“Dakar 2025 is shaping to be one of the hardest ever with the new 48-hour 950-kilkometre Chrono Stage and a 800-kilometre marathon stage,” said Houlihan, who missed this year’s Dakar because he was recovering from a major knee injury.

“On top of that, Dakar 2025 will have more sand dunes than ever before in the Ar Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter, which spans 650,000 square kilometres and covers much of the south-central portion of the Arabian Peninsula.

“It is the largest continuous sand desert on earth.”

Houlihan, who has had a long-time partnership with Speedcafe, is currently third in the veterans class of the Baja World Cup.

His next appearance in that championship will be in Qatar from October 31 and then the final round which will be the Dubai Baja from November 28.

In the meantime, Houlihan is training most weekends on different venues around the Riverina and is looking forward to the Sunraysia Rally from September 4-7.

“We have a lot going on, but it is great to be accepted for Dakar so we can map out a serious plan to that event,” said Houlihan.

“There is no replacement for time on the bike and I am doing as many miles as possible in appropriate conditions.

“At the same time we have a lot going on business wise and [wife] Katie is doing her usual enormous amount behind the scenes to help everything run as smoothly as possible.”

Despite hundreds of applications, just 135 riders will compete in next year’s Dakar, including the 35 in the Original by Motul class.