Tosha Schareina powers through for back-to-back stage wins
Abu Dhabi Desert ChallengeMonster Energy Honda HRC’s Tosha Schareina made the strongest statement possible in his first participation of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with a fantastic second consecutive stage win.
With the riders getting their first taste of the expansive Arabian dunes, stage one today provided a true test of skill and endurance over the 243km special stage as they navigated away from the first bivouac at Al Ain across to the awe-inspiring landscapes of the Liwa region and onto the finish line at Mezaira’a.
As the prologue winner, Schareina secured a prime starting position for today, setting tenth off the line that played into the Spaniard’s hands as the heat of the day rose. He mastered the sandy terrain and dunes to finish nearly two minutes ahead of second place finisher Ricky Brabec. This result has put him firmly at the top of the overall standings with a 2’07” margin over his Honda teammate.
A late charge from Brabec, the 2022 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge runner up, saw him move up from fifth during the stage as some key adjustments he’d made to his Honda CRF450 RALLY last week in testing helped him hand over fist towards a fast finish.
With the difficult task as one of the opening riders today, Adrien Van Beveren was joined on the stage by Rally 2 rider Michael Docherty as the pair set the pace together at the front. Although he finished the day over seven minutes behind Schareina, the Frenchman had expected to lose time with no tracks to follow, however, he came away pleased with his performance.
Happy to get to the finish was eighth placed Skyler Howes who relished the challenges of the soft sand even if some small mistakes lost him time as he continued to adapt his Honda CRF450 RALLY setup for the desert.
Stage two will be a 302km loop around Mezaira’a as they head into the iconic Rub’ Al Khali, also known as the Empty Quarter that is one of the world’s most legendary and mesmerising desert landscapes that spans parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The towering dunes, some of which can be over 250 metres high, will test the riders both physically and mentally under the intense heat.
After yesterday’s great prologue result with Tosha and Ricky, they had an advantage today and were able to start the stage further back after choosing their start positions. We’ve started this rally with victory on the prologue and now can add victory on the first stage too with first and second places for Tosha and Ricky. They rode well today with good pace and navigation and their Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes ran well too. Adrien had a difficult day, he had to open almost all the stage and the time bonuses of half a second per kilometre was not enough for this stage that had many dunes and sand, so he lost quite important time. I’m happy with his navigation and his pace so I hope tomorrow, by starting further back that he can recover some time. Skyler missed a dune at the beginning so had a bit of wrist pain so he finished in eighth, but I believe tomorrow he can also recover time to be back in the fight for the podium.
Tomorrow we’ll have two riders, Tosha and Ricky opening the stage, with Adrien and Skyler further back, so we will try to strategise to have a good result on stage two.
After yesterday’s great prologue result with Tosha and Ricky, they had an advantage today and were able to start the stage further back after choosing their start positions. We’ve started this rally with victory on the prologue and now can add victory on the first stage too with first and second places for Tosha and Ricky. They rode well today with good pace and navigation and their Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes ran well too. Adrien had a difficult day, he had to open almost all the stage and the time bonuses of half a second per kilometre was not enough for this stage that had many dunes and sand, so he lost quite important time. I’m happy with his navigation and his pace so I hope tomorrow, by starting further back that he can recover some time. Skyler missed a dune at the beginning so had a bit of wrist pain so he finished in eighth, but I believe tomorrow he can also recover time to be back in the fight for the podium.
Tomorrow we’ll have two riders, Tosha and Ricky opening the stage, with Adrien and Skyler further back, so we will try to strategise to have a good result on stage two.
We got a really good result on stage one, we ended up second so it’s pretty cool. I’m happy we’ve made good adjustments to the bike last week during testing, so, so far so good. With four days left hopefully we can keep this momentum going forward and end up in a good position at the end.
We got a really good result on stage one, we ended up second so it’s pretty cool. I’m happy we’ve made good adjustments to the bike last week during testing, so, so far so good. With four days left hopefully we can keep this momentum going forward and end up in a good position at the end.
Today was a good challenge, the stage was pretty fast. I’m trying to update the bike settings and gain more confidence on it, so that’s my goal out here, to keep making adjustments and get more and more comfortable on the machine. Today I had a couple of moments out there that slowed me down a little bit, but overall it was a good day. I made it to the finish line and I’m happy and ready to take on another four days.
Today was a good challenge, the stage was pretty fast. I’m trying to update the bike settings and gain more confidence on it, so that’s my goal out here, to keep making adjustments and get more and more comfortable on the machine. Today I had a couple of moments out there that slowed me down a little bit, but overall it was a good day. I made it to the finish line and I’m happy and ready to take on another four days.
It was a good day overall, I started second but got into the lead around 45km then I opened the rest of the stage. Michael Docherty caught up with me and we opened together. The pace was high and it was good to ride with him. I think the pace was right, the time gap is big but in this kind of terrain you obviously lose a lot when you open, so I’m happy with my day.
It was a good day overall, I started second but got into the lead around 45km then I opened the rest of the stage. Michael Docherty caught up with me and we opened together. The pace was high and it was good to ride with him. I think the pace was right, the time gap is big but in this kind of terrain you obviously lose a lot when you open, so I’m happy with my day.
I’m finally here at the finish line of the first stage and won it so I’m super happy for that. I thought the terrain would be more hard-packed for this first stage, but from the start I noticed that it was completely sand and dunes. I tried to push from the beginning and the second part was pretty sketchy amongst the dunes. Tomorrow I have that difficult mission to open the stage so I will just have to go for it.
I’m finally here at the finish line of the first stage and won it so I’m super happy for that. I thought the terrain would be more hard-packed for this first stage, but from the start I noticed that it was completely sand and dunes. I tried to push from the beginning and the second part was pretty sketchy amongst the dunes. Tomorrow I have that difficult mission to open the stage so I will just have to go for it.
Rally GP Result - Stage 1
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SCHAREINA Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | 02:54:00 |
2 | BRABEC Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 01:54 |
3 | BENAVIDES Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 03:18 |
4 | EVAN BRANCH Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 05:08 |
5 | CORNEJO FLORIMO José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 05:39 |
6 | SANDERS Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 06:17 | |
7 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 07:13 |
8 | HOWES Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 08:17 |
Rally GP Provisional Standings After Stage 1
Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SCHAREINA Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | 03:00:53 |
2 | BRABEC Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 02:07 |
3 | BENAVIDES Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 03:22 |
4 | EVAN BRANCH Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 05:24 |
5 | CORNEJO FLORIMO José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 06:17 |
6 | SANDERS Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 06:34 | |
7 | VAN BEVEREN Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 08:01 |
8 | HOWES Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 08:36 |
