Hard terrain tests the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders on the Rally-Raid Portugal prologue
The prologue kicked off proceedings for Monster Energy Honda HRC at this year’s Rally-Raid Portugal, with Tosha Schareina posting the fastest time over the 5 km course among the four factory Honda riders.
The stage at Grândola was expected to consist mainly of sandy tracks, but riders were met with a hard-packed and unexpectedly demanding surface. Tosha, last year’s Rally-Raid Portugal winner, claimed second place in Rally GP, finishing just 10 seconds behind eventual winner Daniel Sanders, despite struggling to find his rhythm on the short prologue.
Sand specialist Adrien Van Beveren, was similarly caught off guard by the terrain, ending the day in third only three seconds behind Tosha. Ricky Brabec, making his Rally-Raid Portugal debut, placed seventh after starting near the back of the field, while fellow American Skyler Howes finished tenth, struggling to adapt to the slippery tracks and he will aim for a more competitive showing on stage one, where gravel will make up the majority of the terrain.
Back at the bivouac, riders must now select their starting positions for stage one, a choice that could prove decisive given the dry, dusty conditions. Tomorrow’s stage begins in Grândola with a 425 km loop, 302 km of which will be timed as the route promises the first significant test of form and could play a key role in shaping the early standings.
Ruben Faria
It was not the best prologue today as it was really tricky and totally unexpected in terms of the terrain. It was sandy versus fesh fesh and in some places the sand was deep, in others it was slippery on hard pack. With Tosha in second and then Adrien finishing third in Rally GP today, I think they can start in a good position for tomorrow’s stage one. With Ricky in seventh and Skyler in tenth, they might find it a little more difficult setting off near the front, if there is no wind then the dust will be a problem. We will see what happens.
Ricky Brabec 9
That was a super tricky prologue, probably one of the more difficult ones I’ve done, a really hard pack with lot of like silt and stuff, off cambers, some sand corners with good ruts, but with the rally tyres was really difficult to ride on. I was a little nervous coming into this one but now that we’ve finished this prologue, the monkey’s off our back and we’re ready to go for five stages.
Skyler Howes 10
We got the prologue out of the way, obviously it’s not my strong suit. It felt really slippery out there and just didn’t really nail it, stood up in the corners and didn’t have a good run. A little bit frustrated with that, hopefully it doesn’t ruin my day tomorrow. This is the first race after the summer break and I had a pretty rough summer, so I’m happy to get through this one and just shake things out and push on for the week. Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll tackle that one.
Adrien Van Beveren 42
It was not an easy prologue, I was expecting better sandy conditions and I was really excited for that. But from the first few corners I realised it was sand on top but a really hard base, so I struggled to find my rhythm and speed. I was pushing, but made so many mistakes, there was no traction and it was not an efficient ride overall. But it is what it is and was the same for everybody so we will focus on tomorrow. For sure the riding will be totally different, but anyway it’s good to start the race, I can’t wait for more.
Tosha Schareina 68
From the start I tried to get into a rhythm but it was not easy for me, we were racing between sand and hard pack and I just tried to do my best. It was not a good feeling for me today, however the rally starts tomorrow so we will just go for it.
Rally GP Results - Prologue
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanders Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | 00:04:47 | |
| 2 | Schareina Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 00:10 |
| 3 | Van Beveren Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 00:13 |
| 4 | Evan Branch Ross | 16 | BWA | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 00:13 |
| 5 | Benavides Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 00:15 |
| 6 | Santolino Lorenzo | 15 | SPA | Sherco TVS Rally Factory | Sherco | + 00:20 |
| 7 | Brabec Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 00:21 |
| 8 | Cox Bradley | 49 | RSA | BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM | KTM | + 00:21 |
| 9 | Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 00:32 |
| 10 | Howes Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 00:35 |
Location Information
Portugal - View in Google Maps
