Monster Energy Honda HRC power through the first stage

413 kilometres of special stage was on the menu today as the Dakar Rally got underway with its first test of the 2025 event in Saudi Arabia.

It was an early start for the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders on stage one as they prepared to face a multitude of fast tracks through valleys, canyons and wadis with many thorny bushes thrown in for good measure.

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Keeping the pressure on from the start, Ricky Brabec lead the way over the early kilometres to just drop a little time towards the finish to lose a mere 2′04″ to eventual stage winner Daniel Sanders.  Back to full fitness after sustaining an injury at last year’s Rallye Du Maroc, the reigning Dakar champion is fully primed before the enormous second stage at just a couple of minutes behind Sanders in the overall standings.

Skyler Howes had an eventful first stage as he stopped to assist Sebastian Bühler who had fallen off badly at the 68km mark but come the end of the stage that time tending a fellow competitor in need was reinstated to the American. Overall it was a positive day for Howes that saw him finish fourth as he maintained a consistent rhythm behind Brabec over the latter half of the stage.

Tosha Schareina was on a charge as he looked to keep within touching distance of Sanders and although during the stage he reduced the deficit to 18 seconds, once he got to the Bisha finish line he was 4′42″ off the fastest time to take fifth.

Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla not only struggled with some of the navigation but also front end issues with his Honda CRF450 RALLY, but he rode hard through the adversity to finish the stage in seventh keen to iron out any small problems before the start of stage two.

Birthday boy Adrien Van Beveren had a day to forget as a crash just 15 kilometres into the stage saw his airbag go off and the road book push button stop working.  Although unhurt, it was from then on in a very long day for the 34-year-old as he then had to operate the road book manually which slowed his progress to the end of the stage.  With his eighth place finish, the Frenchman will be the first Monster Energy Honda HRC rider off the line tomorrow as the starting order for the 20 Rally GP bikes will be reversed for the start of the 48 Hour Chrono.  He’ll therefore set off in thirteenth position with the aim to keep his crown of winning the huge two day test just as he did in 2024.

The punishing 48 Hour Chrono looms on the horizon tomorrow with the riders preparing for the quite enormous 947 km of riding broken up with a night sleeping on the desert floor, food rations which include breakfast muesli, a hot dinner and drinks and no outside mechanical assistance. They’ll also have no idea where they are positioned in the stage standings relative to each other as the darkness and cold conditions descend upon them north of Bisha.  Adrien Van Beveren kept his cool to win the 48 Hour Chrono last year, but with it featuring so early on in this year’s edition there will be the entire field of contenders looking to take the Chrono crown.

Rally GP Results – Stage 1