Schareina leads and Howes shines: Monster Energy Honda Team gets Rally Raid Portugal off to a flying start
BP Ultimate Rally-RaidThe Rally Raid de Portugal kicked off today, and the Monster Energy Honda Team made a statement of intent from the very first kilometre. With an electrifying prologue and two challenging special stages, the Honda riders demonstrated their skill and determination on the Portuguese tracks.
The action started in the town of Grandola, the talented Valencian rider, Tosha Schareina, led the way conquering the prologue with a time of 3 minutes and 29 seconds. However, the competition was fierce, with Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren following close behind, just 2 seconds behind. Although Schareina and Van Beveren secured the top two positions, Pablo Quintanilla and Skyler Howes also held their own on the challenging terrain, taking 9th and 14th places respectively in the prologue.
After a 31 km liaison, the riders regrouped in Santiago do Cacém to tackle the first special stage of the day, an endurance test of more than 100 km. The fight was intense.
After Tosha’s victory in the prologue, he has consolidated his leading position throughout the day, showing an exceptional performance in the day’s special stages.
Accompanying Schareina’s brilliant performance, the American Skyler Howes has shown to be at a great level on a surface he is not used to, as Skyler usually rides in races where navigation plays an important role and tracks are usually very open, despite not being his ideal terrain he has managed to secure a 3º place in the general classification.
Pablo Quintanilla, for his part, showed a very solid level, although he suffered a fall at kilometre 80, it was all just a scare and he managed to finish in 5th place.
However, a last minute penalty affected the positions, relegating Adrien Van Beveren to 14th place after a great prologue.
As the Monster Energy Honda Team prepares to tackle the next stages of the rally, we can’t overlook the incredible energy and support of the Portuguese fans. From the finish lines to the most remote stages, the local fans have been tirelessly cheering on the riders, adding an extra dimension of excitement and camaraderie to this thrilling competition.
With four stages to go, the Rally Raid de Portugal promises to remain an unforgettable spectacle, and the Monster Energy Honda Team is determined to make its mark on every kilometre of challenging terrain that awaits them.
First stage finished with a prologue and 2 special stages. The public in Portugal has responded as we expected with a lot of people during the special stages and the riders like that.
In the team we have had some good results with the victory of Tosha and a great third place of Skyler opening the special stage in a terrain he is not used to. Pablo despite the crash had a very consistent day. A shame about Adrian who didn't see the entrance to the transfer and was penalised with 12 minutes but there is still a lot of race left.
Tomorrow the race will be in the same area and if it doesn't rain the terrain will be perfect to enjoy the Portuguese tracks.
It took me a while to find my rhythm because there was a lot of water and it was difficult to understand the terrain, so we had to be a bit more careful.At the 80th kilometre I had a fall but nothing serious. I was able to continue without any problems.In some parts it was complicated to see because you went from the shade to the sun very quickly and it was difficult to find the feeling. I hope that as the days go by we will improve these aspects.
It was too epic, the prologue was more like a Motocross stage through the trees but it was tricky because it was quite slippery.I'm coming from a very complicated year with injuries and problems.
I had to open the special stage and the track was incredible. the conditions could not have been better.It was a very good and fun day.
I like this terrain because it is a lot more technical than the desert. I really enjoyed the cornering and braking, there are a lot more places where you have to slow down.There were many moments when you were going very fast and there was a puddle of water and you didn't know how deep it was, we could only cross our fingers and try to avoid them as much as possible.
We started very well by winning the prologue, it was a very sandy terrain with holes full of water.It was a good comeback after my fall in the Dakar, I really wanted to get back on a rally bike and I really enjoyed it.
STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 1
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SCHAREINA Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 01:15:44 |
3 | HOWES Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 01:20:11 |
5 | QUINTANILLA Pablo | 7 | CHI | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 01:20:25 |
14 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda Team | Honda | 01:27:22 |
