The demanding Dakar Rally marathon stage sees Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Tosha Schareina close in on the overall lead
Dakar Rally in Saudi ArabiaThe second part of the two day marathon stage has tested the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders today following no team assistance at the AlUla bivouac last night when the riders were allowed just 30 minutes to work on their Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes to prepare them for today’s 428km special stage.
Much like yesterday, the varied terrain heading east towards Ha’il would push their tyres to the limit to make their wear a deciding factor in the results today as each rider had to use their one set of tyres over two days and across a huge total of 843 kilometres.
Tosha Schareina admitted after yesterday’s marathon stage that he’d slowed down over the latter kilometres so that he wouldn’t have to lead out today. Therefore, setting off in second behind Sanders, he struggled in the early part of the stage as a navigational error threw him off the ideal course but he dug deep and regained his composure to catch up with the leading riders on the correct route and rode as part of a group to the finish at Ha’il. Schareina’s concentration and speed over the 428km stage today has gained him 6’24” on the Dakar’s overall leader to as good as half the time deficit and as such be just 7’02” off the leading time overall.
With super fast tracks from the start today followed by sandy sections offering up a change of pace, Adrien Van Beveren adapted well to the conditions and the complicated navigation to be up amongst the lead out riders before speeding off into the distance to rack up some important bonus time. With the final 50km of the stage splintered with rocks, conserving his tyres was at the forefront of his mind as he looked to hold on for his first Dakar Rally stage victory of 2025. Although a late time penalty thwarted his chances of a sixth Dakar Rally stage win to drop him to second behind Luciano Benavides at the conclusion today.
After losing a chunk of time yesterday, Ricky Brabec showed why he is a double Dakar Rally champion as his composed ride to the finish line at Ha’il saw him in fifth, just three and a half minutes off the best time of the day. Although starting to feel mentally exhausted, he brilliantly managed to slice nearly ten minutes off his overall time today so will be one to watch next week as he aims to reduce it further as the rally heads towards the finish at Shubaytah a week tomorrow.
Skyler Howes was a further 1’10” back from Brabec in sixth position as the American made a slight error as he relied on the tracks already made in the sand, something that’s easy to do at the speed covered by factory riders in rally-raid. Venturing off on a wrong turn into a canyon consequently lost him around six minutes but after the refuelling stop he managed to salvage precious time back to keep himself in the top five overall.
Following on from his arm pump issues yesterday, eighth placed Pablo Quintanilla struggled to get into a steady rhythm on his Honda CRF450 RALLY with the mix of terrain proving a real challenge for the two-time World Cross Country Rally champion.
With the complete roster of five Monster Energy Honda HRC riders now safely at the Ha’il bivouac, tomorrow’s rest day will see them all regroup as they and the whole team prepare for the second week of racing across Saudi Arabia and the final stretch to the finish line at Shubaytah.
The team have arrived at Ha’il, all the riders got here safely along with their Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes. The positions the riders are in is not what we expected after this first week, but it is what it is. Of course the riders are tired as it was a tough first week, but they will have a chance to recover tomorrow on the rest day and then they’ll be ready for the second week. We have Tosha in second, Adrien in fourth, Skyler fifth, Ricky a place further back and then Pablo in eighth. We’re right in the middle of the race so anything can still happen as we head towards the final stage of this Dakar Rally. I’m happy with all the riders and team, our focus now will be on the second week.
The team have arrived at Ha’il, all the riders got here safely along with their Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes. The positions the riders are in is not what we expected after this first week, but it is what it is. Of course the riders are tired as it was a tough first week, but they will have a chance to recover tomorrow on the rest day and then they’ll be ready for the second week. We have Tosha in second, Adrien in fourth, Skyler fifth, Ricky a place further back and then Pablo in eighth. We’re right in the middle of the race so anything can still happen as we head towards the final stage of this Dakar Rally. I’m happy with all the riders and team, our focus now will be on the second week.
This marathon stage was very tough, the terrain was super difficult to ride, and I didn’t feel good as I couldn’t get into a good rhythm during the two days. It is what it is, it wasn’t a good marathon stage for me, but we still have many days ahead and I know in this race some days are good, some days not, but it is important to keep calm, focused and giving 100% every day.
This marathon stage was very tough, the terrain was super difficult to ride, and I didn’t feel good as I couldn’t get into a good rhythm during the two days. It is what it is, it wasn’t a good marathon stage for me, but we still have many days ahead and I know in this race some days are good, some days not, but it is important to keep calm, focused and giving 100% every day.
It’s the way the rally is going for us, but all is good. I’m here, I’m healthy, I’m happy with my navigating and riding but I know the results probably don’t show how I feel. Things aren’t working out in my favour so it’s been tough and mentally exhausting. Now we’re at rest day in Ha’il, we’ll push on for the best result we can get at next week’s finish.
It’s the way the rally is going for us, but all is good. I’m here, I’m healthy, I’m happy with my navigating and riding but I know the results probably don’t show how I feel. Things aren’t working out in my favour so it’s been tough and mentally exhausting. Now we’re at rest day in Ha’il, we’ll push on for the best result we can get at next week’s finish.
Today was frustrating for me, I started so far back that I started relying on the tracks in front of me for navigation, which is not really a smart thing to do. But when you’re in the back like that and because we lost a lot of time yesterday, I was pushing super hard to catch back up some time today. Around 150 kilometres I got to an area where all the tracks kind of disappeared and I was behind the road book enough that I went down the wrong canyon and had to circle back. I probably lost about six minutes just in that one little spot. I did pretty good after the refuelling, I knew the navigation was going to be tricky again and there were a few areas that I had to kind of wander a little bit to find the good way, but I didn’t have to turn around or anything.
Today was frustrating for me, I started so far back that I started relying on the tracks in front of me for navigation, which is not really a smart thing to do. But when you’re in the back like that and because we lost a lot of time yesterday, I was pushing super hard to catch back up some time today. Around 150 kilometres I got to an area where all the tracks kind of disappeared and I was behind the road book enough that I went down the wrong canyon and had to circle back. I probably lost about six minutes just in that one little spot. I did pretty good after the refuelling, I knew the navigation was going to be tricky again and there were a few areas that I had to kind of wander a little bit to find the good way, but I didn’t have to turn around or anything.
I feel good, I’m really happy about what I’ve achieved yesterday and today. The beginning of the Dakar has been really tough. I tried my best every time to accept the situations and I really like to give my best, so I think the level I could give on the track was good. I hope this will pay off at the end.
I feel good, I’m really happy about what I’ve achieved yesterday and today. The beginning of the Dakar has been really tough. I tried my best every time to accept the situations and I really like to give my best, so I think the level I could give on the track was good. I hope this will pay off at the end.
Today was the second part of the marathon stage, it was pretty good. At the beginning I made a navigation mistake and after that Nacho Cornjeo and Adrien caught me. We were riding together again like in previous days and after that we caught Daniel Sanders. There was 400km of tricky navigation, again some rocky parts and 100km of super sandy sections, but it was pretty good. I didn’t lose too much time with the other riders, so now it’s time to stop and enjoy the rest day before we’re ready to battle again.
Today was the second part of the marathon stage, it was pretty good. At the beginning I made a navigation mistake and after that Nacho Cornjeo and Adrien caught me. We were riding together again like in previous days and after that we caught Daniel Sanders. There was 400km of tricky navigation, again some rocky parts and 100km of super sandy sections, but it was pretty good. I didn’t lose too much time with the other riders, so now it’s time to stop and enjoy the rest day before we’re ready to battle again.
Rally GP Results - Stage 5
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | BENAVIDES Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | 04:53:00 |
2 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 00:47 |
3 | CORNEJO FLORIMO José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 01:31 |
4 | EVAN BRANCH Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 03:20 |
5 | BRABEC Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 03:30 |
6 | HOWES Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 04:40 |
7 | SCHAREINA Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 05:18 |
8 | SVITKO Stefan | 142 | SLO | Slovnaft Rally Team | KTM | + 09:57 |
9 | QUINTANILLA Pablo | 7 | CHI | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 11:17 |
10 | SANDERS Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 11:42 |
Rally GP Provisional Standings after Stage 5
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SANDERS Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | 30:20:15 | |
2 | SCHAREINA Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 07:02 |
3 | EVAN BRANCH Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 17:48 |
4 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 18:31 |
5 | HOWES Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 19:59 |
6 | BRABEC Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 21:01 |
7 | BENAVIDES Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 24:15 |
8 | QUINTANILLA Pablo | 7 | CHI | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 32:49 |
9 | CORNEJO FLORIMO José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 43:50 |
10 | SANTOLINO Lorenzo | 15 | SPA | Sherco TVS Rally Factory | Sherco | + 01:03:24 |
