Schareina and Van Beveren on the podium of 2025 Dakar Rally

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.

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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.

Rally GP Result – Stage 12

Rally GP Provisional Standings After Stage 12