There was a double celebration today in Saudi Arabia with a second consecutive Dakar Rally double podium for Monster Energy Honda HRC as Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren took second and third place finishes at the 47th edition of the world famous motorsport event.
7,453 kilometres came down to one exciting final swan song in Saudi Arabia with stage 12 providing a mass start spectacle in the desert reminiscent of the original Senegalese Lac Rose tradition when competitors battled together to the finish line. Today’s action on stage 12 closed the curtain on what has been an epic two weeks of rally-raid across the Arabian Peninsula.
On only his fourth Dakar and having never finished in the top ten before, Tosha Schareina put in a brilliant performance throughout the 13 days of racing to take a fantastic second place finish as he pushed this year’s winner, Daniel Sanders, right to the very end where just 8’50” separated them after 53 hours of competition. After last year’s Dakar when Schareina crashed out on the first stage resulting in a wrist fracture, it was an amazing turnaround for the young Spaniard. With a point to prove, this year’s stage 11 victor remained calm and collected following his masterclass in the huge dunes yesterday where he took a stunning seven minutes out of Sanders, proving that he could soak up the pressure when he needed to. Having watched his idols race in the most famous rally in the world when he was younger, Schareina was able to fulfil his dream of not only competing against them but stepping onto the podium as the highest placed finisher for Monster Energy Honda HRC.
Adrien Van Beveren took back-to-back third place podium finishes as the experienced Frenchman also notched up his sixth Dakar Rally career stage victory. Getting into his rhythm in the second week, the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship runner-up managed to keep Luciano Benavides behind him so that he could celebrate with teammate Tosha Schareina on the podium. On a mission right until the very end during the 54 minute sprint across the dunes, the sand maestro finished the final stage as the top Rally GP rider, just two seconds shy of eventual stage winner, Rally 2 rider Michael Docherty.
After returning from a tibia plateau fracture after a crash at the 2024 season ending Rallye Du Maroc, the 2020 and 2024 Dakar champion Ricky Brabec was happy with his performance during the Rally during which he added another stage win to the ten he has already achieved so far. Although the American’s original aim was back-to-back Dakar Rally titles, his fifth place finish and stage six win was a sensational performance considering he’d not got back behind the bars of his Honda CRF450 RALLY until November.
Brabec crossed the finish line in unison with another rider returning from injury, fellow American Skyler Howes, who last competed in a World Rally-Raid Championship round back in June at the Desafío Ruta 40. Riding in his seventh Dakar Rally, his sixth place position overall didn’t reflect on how he’d kept the pace regularly with the front runners and although slightly frustrated with his performance, he’s already looking forward to getting himself back stronger for the upcoming rounds this season.
As the culmination of two weeks of rallying across Saudi Arabia’s immense landscapes came to its conclusion, the World Rally-Raid Championship will continue with Abu Dhabi playing host to the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders in just over a month’s time.
Ruben Faria
General Manager
The team did a really good job with everybody putting in the maximum effort to achieve a good result for Monster Energy Honda HRC with four of our riders getting to the finish line of this year’s Dakar Rally. With four bikes in the top six we had a good set up for this year, the riders are OK although Tosha did have a bit of shoulder issue after stage 5, however he managed to get through it and achieve his brilliant runner-up position. Adrien did a good job too to join Tosha on the podium. Ricky and Skyler who came fifth and sixth also did really well, it was a shame on the 48 Hour Chrono that Ricky had some problems as that lost him time. Like Skyler, he’s also come from an injury so it was a good result for him too.
Overall the 2025 Dakar Rally went well, the main aim was to win and although we didn’t achieve that in the end we can learn from this and try to analyse what we can do to perform better in all areas. We will return for the 2026 Dakar much stronger so we can be number one again, this is our focus from now on.
I want to say a big thank to all the team members and all the people involved in this project in Japan. We will come back stronger next year.
Ricky Brabec 9
Stage: 7th Overall: 5th
I’m happy to be at the finish line, this is my tenth Dakar and it means a lot to me. When I started this career I didn’t know I would have done what I’ve achieved so it’s cool. I’ve won twice, got on the podium in second place position and I was hoping to get back on it at some point but I wasn’t able to make a breakthrough and the other guys were riding really well so hats off to them. Now we got beat, we got our ass kicked so now we’re going to be hungrier for the next year when we’ll be ready to fight, so we’ll see what happens next time.
It’s really hard winning back to back which has been impossible for the last ten years. I really wanted to do it, you know sinking is not an option and I never give up. So I think we’re going to keep going until we can win again.
Skyler Howes 10
Stage: 8th Overall: 6th
So there’s obviously work to be done, I wanted to finish on the top step of the podium so sixth place just means that I need to beat five other people. We’ve got work to do this year so we’re going to get straight back to it, there’s no rest days and we’ll come back swinging again next year Adrien Van Beveren 42
Stage: 1st Overall: 3rd
We have to risk so much to be up front. I really tried to be on the top of the podium and we couldn’t do it this time but I like to ride motorcycles in the desert so I will come back.
Tosha Schareina 68
Stage: 2nd Overall: 2nd
I’m so happy to finally be here at the finish line. This year was really really hard for everybody, but I’m super happy with this second place because we had quite a lot of problems. Three years ago I was fighting just to race here at the Dakar Rally and now I’m fighting for the win. I’m super happy and hungry for more.
I’ve been dreaming about this all my life. When I was a child I would be sat on the sofa seeing my idols and now I’m here battling with them so I’m super happy.
Rally GP Result – Stage 12
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda HRC 54:14
2 Schareina Tosha 68 SPA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 00:54
3 Svitko Stefan 142 SLO Slovnaft Rally Team + 00:56
4 Sanders Daniel AUS KTM Factory Racing Team + 01:04
5 Benavides Luciano 1 ARG KTM Factory Racing Team + 01:04
6 Gonçalves Rui 19 POR Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 02:05
7 Brabec Ricky 9 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 02:19
8 Howes Skyler 10 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 02:19
9 Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio 11 CHI Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 02:25
10 Santolino Lorenzo 15 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 13:01
Rally GP Provisional Standings After Stage 12
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Sanders Daniel AUS KTM Factory Racing Team 53:08:52
2 Schareina Tosha 68 SPA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 08:50
3 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 14:46
4 Benavides Luciano 1 ARG KTM Factory Racing Team + 22:16
5 Brabec Ricky 9 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 29:50
6 Howes Skyler 10 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 42:44
7 Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio 11 CHI Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 58:20
8 Svitko Stefan 142 SLO Slovnaft Rally Team + 02:14:38
9 Gonçalves Rui 19 POR Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 02:50:50
10 Santolino Lorenzo 15 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 04:16:48
