Honda trio dig deep as the desert battle intensifies

There was a shake-up in the standings today as stage three of the Rallye du Maroc delivered its share of surprises, with both the action and the temperatures heating up as the route took the riders close to the Algerian border.

After a tough outing yesterday, there was to be no let-up for the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders on stage three of the 2026 Rallye du Maroc.  A demanding 591 km loop to and from Zagora awaited the field and much like the previous day, the route served up a wide variety of terrain through the Moroccan valleys and the dunes of Merzouga and Snegui.  In total, 360 km of the technical and physically demanding route was against the clock.

After losing significant time yesterday, Tosha Schareina was no longer in the fight for the overall victory, but the Spaniard was never going to simply sit back.  He attacked stage three with renewed vigour and remained close to the front-running pace throughout the day.  By the 237 km mark, Schareina had surged to second fastest, just 43 seconds behind Luciano Benavides and although he conceded some time over the closing kilometres, he held on to claim an impressive runner-up finish, just 1’58” off the stage-winning time.  It was an excellent turnaround for the hard-charging Spaniard and a strong response to the disappointment of the previous day.

Adrien Van Beveren wasn’t feeling at his best before climbing aboard his Honda CRF450 RALLY this morning, but that didn’t stop the Frenchman from setting a blistering early pace.  He was the fastest rider through the opening kilometres, with the WRC-style tracks clearly suiting him.  Although he conceded some time as the stage progressed, Van Beveren remained in contention for a strong result before the physically demanding nature of the route began to take its toll.  Relieved to make it safely to the finish, he could nevertheless take plenty of positives from an improved performance compared with the previous stages, finishing fifth, 4’48” off the winning time.  He will now focus on recovering at the Zagora bivouac ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate stage.

Starting second on the road, Ricky Brabec quickly caught Daniel Sanders and the pair once again shared the responsibility of opening the stage. A t one point Brabec was nearly five minutes off the fastest time, but he steadily chipped away at the deficit through the dunes to bring himself back into contention.  A small mistake after refuelling cost him valuable time as the leading riders remained locked in a closely fought battle.  Brabec eventually reached the finish in fifth position.  The result sees him slip off the provisional overall podium, with a 2’48” deficit to new rally leader Edgar Canet.  However, with Brabec just 1’18” from third place, there is still everything to play for over the final two days.

The Zagora bivouac will once again serve as the base for the penultimate stage of this year’s Rallye du Maroc, with 321 km of timed action awaiting the riders.  The spectacular canyons of the region will provide the backdrop as the battle intensifies ahead of the final day of racing.