A brilliant day of rallying from Monster Energy Honda Team’s Tosha Schareina saw him equal the all-time record of ten World Rally-Raid Championship stage wins in a season as Honda also rounded out 2024 with the FIM Manufacturers’ title.
With the curtain falling on the Rallye du Maroc, Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren put in gutsy rides across the 273km special stage which started and ended back at the Mengoub bivouac but for Schareina there was added impetus to prove a point after a couple of days of bad luck. A time penalty on stage 3 had in effect put him out of the running for victory due to an inaccurate note in the roadbook, which then led to a navigation error that also affected Van Beveren and several other riders.
However, the Spaniard had shown his resilience and jumped to the top of the timesheets midway through the stage today from his fifth place starting position. A see-saw battle with fellow countryman Lorenzo Santolino went right to the line with Schareina taking the stage win by just over a minute to place him second on the rally, just 11 minutes behind the overall victor, Daniel Sanders.
Having great pace and flow on his Honda CRF450 RALLY, it was a better day for Adrien Van Beveren who took the stage podium in third, just 1’39” back from his teammate.
With Sanders not taking part in the World Rally-Raid Championship, Schareina added the Rallye Du Maroc victory to his Rally-Raid Portugal one earlier this year as Adrien Van Beveren made it a Monster Energy Honda Team one-two in the official W2RC overall standings.
The Frenchman took the runner up spot in the FIM riders’ championship while in his first full season in Monster Energy Honda Team colours, Schareina clinched the final spot on the podium in what has been a remarkable season for him following his win in Portugal and his second place in Argentina.
Honda are FIM Manufacturer Champions for a third consecutive year with the team winning three rounds of the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship including the biggest motorsport event of them all, the Dakar Rally.
The Monster Energy Honda Team will now rest up before preparing for the 2025 season that kicks off with the Dakar Rally on 3rd January in Saudi Arabia.
Ruben Faria
It was finally a normal stage for us on the last day of the 2024 Rallye du Maroc and it was great to see Tosha take first and Adrien third, which is a great result for the overall. Tosha finished second in the standings, he tried to reduce some of the time to Daniel but it was not quite enough, even though he did manage to catch him on the stage today. Adrien was really close to the overall podium and lost out by less than two minutes, but he should be really pleased with his fourth place.
We are happy to finish one more rally and the season too. We were really close to winning the riders’ title but it was just out of our reach and so I want to congratulate Ross Branch for his World Championship win.
A huge positive is that for the third time in a row we won the manufacturers’ World Championship. Now we continue to work, the riders will train, and our focus is on our next goal of winning Dakar 2025 something we will do everything to achieve.
I also want to say thank you to all the team, this rally hasn’t been easy at times, but they soldiered on and did a really good job.
Tosha Schareina 68
Stage: 1st Overall: 2nd
We made a few mistakes in this rally but the end result was really good, the bike and the team were great throughout this event and I’m so proud of them. The next challenge is Dakar, so of course I will now focus on this and be prepared for January.
Adrien Van Beveren 42
Stage: 3rd Overall: 4th
It was a tough rally but I’m really happy with how I rode because it’s not normally my preferred terrain and I got into a better rhythm quite quickly. We had a so-so first day as I had to start in front, but then I did some really solid stages everyday to get on the podium. It’s important for me to finish with a good feeling like that just in time for Dakar.
It’s the fourth year in a row that I’m on the podium of the World Rally-Raid Championship; I’ve been runner up twice, in third twice, so I want to keep my dream alive and take that top spot. Ross did a really good job, he’s been consistent so he deserved the title.
Rally GP Results – Stage 5
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Schareina Tosha 68 SPA Monster Energy Honda Team 02:33:04
2 Santolino Lorenzo 15 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 00:52
3 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda Team + 01:27
4 Benavides Luciano 1 ARG KTM Factory Racing Team + 07:17
5 Evan Branch Ross 16 BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 10:17
6 Sanders Daniel AUS KTM Factory Racing Team + 10:37
7 Maio Antonio 30 POR Franco Sport Yamaha Racing Team + 11:50
8 Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio 11 CHI Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 31:40
Rally GP Provisional Standings after Stage 5
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Sanders Daniel AUS KTM Factory Racing Team 15:45:06
2 Schareina Tosha 68 SPA Monster Energy Honda Team + 11:07
3 Benavides Luciano 1 ARG KTM Factory Racing Team + 21:03
4 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda Team + 22:51
5 Evan Branch Ross 16 BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 45:33
6 Santolino Lorenzo 15 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 52:08
7 Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio 11 CHI Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 01:15:01
8 Maio Antonio 30 POR Franco Sport Yamaha Racing Team + 02:22:42
