Monster Energy Honda HRC riders prepare for Rally-Raid Portugal challenge

Monster Energy Honda HRC returns to competition this week as it lines up for Rally Raid Portugal, the second round of the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship season.

The third edition of the event will feature 2,181 kilometres of racing, beginning on 17th March in Grândola on Portugal’s western coast. From there, the route heads east towards Badajoz in Spain, where the terrain transitions from sandy sections to more technical forest tracks as the stages become longer and navigation increasingly demanding. The rally will conclude on 22nd March in Loulé in southern Portugal.

Ricky Brabec arrives in Portugal following a strong performance at this year’s Dakar Rally, where he narrowly missed victory by just two seconds. Currently sitting eight points behind World Rally-Raid Championship leader Luciano Benavides in the Rally GP class, the American will be eager to regain ground in the title fight. Having missed the first edition of the rally in 2024, Brabec took fourth place at last year’s event and will now be aiming to climb onto the podium. Mastering the technical routes and complex roadbook on terrain that traditionally does not suit him will be key to his chances.

Fellow American Skyler Howes will also be aiming to adapt to the European terrain. After some time away from international competition, during which he secured his seventh victory at his local Rhino Rally, Howes arrives with renewed confidence following his first-ever Dakar Rally stage win earlier this year. He will be looking to run among the frontrunners and challenge for his first Rally-Raid Portugal podium aboard the Honda CRF450 RALLY.

Adrien Van Beveren entered the 2026 season in what he described as the best physical condition of his career. Although sixth place at Dakar did not fully reflect the level of performance he showed throughout the rally, the Frenchman has continued to prepare intensively. In February he competed in the Enduropale du Touquet beach race, an event he has won three times in the past. After a heavy crash disrupted his Portugal campaign in 2025, Van Beveren will be aiming to return strongly and fight for his first podium finish at the event.

Currently third in the World Rally-Raid Championship standings, Tosha Schareina is the only member of the team to have previously won Rally-Raid Portugal. The Spaniard claimed victory in 2024 and finished runner-up in 2025. With stages passing through neighbouring Spain, the 31-year-old will be hoping to benefit from strong support from home fans as he targets a second victory at the European rally.

All riders completed a shakedown last week aboard their Honda CRF450 RALLY machines, with final preparations taking place today at the Grândola bivouac during scrutineering and administrative checks.

The rally begins tomorrow with a short five-kilometre gravel prologue in front of Portuguese fans. With rain forecast, conditions could add an additional challenge, making the result particularly important as it will determine the starting order for the opening stage.

Ruben Faria

General Manager

We are at Grândola, all the shakedowns are done, everything is OK, the bikes are ready and the riders feel good. It will be another tough race, it’s a different kind of terrain compared to Dakar, there are lots of trees, fence lines and animals too, so it will be really different, but really nice too. Portugal has amazing land for this type of rally so this is good. It’s the prologue tomorrow, it will be short and we don’t know yet how important the start positions will be for stage one. With the potential for rain, it’ll be no problem to start a bit further back, but if it’s dry then there will be a lot of dust, so it’ll be better to start at the front. This is the goal for the prologue.

Ricky Brabec ⁹

It’s good to be back with the team. This is probably my least favourite round, I’m not super confident riding around on these roads and now with the forecast that we’ve got some rain coming, that’s going to make it a bit more sketchy out there. We did a good job last year, although I fell over and dislocated my pinky and thought I tore it off my hand, so that held me back a little bit from the midway point. I’m looking forward to making it to the end of this rally in one piece, especially with the mud and the slippery roads.

Skyler Howes ¹⁰

After Dakar I took a little bit of time off, it’s such huge preparation and such a big race and so hard on the body. I had about a week off and then I have some project bikes at home, so I began to build a CRF450 RX. I then did a local race called the Rhino Rally which I won, which is really cool. That made it seven times that I’ve won it. So, more or less, been doing some training, some recovery, some fun building bikes, that one race and now we’re here in Portugal. We’ve been here for a couple of days doing some shakedown and now we’re ready for the prologue tomorrow, although we do have some pretty serious rain forecast.

Adrien Van Beveren ⁴²

I’ve been racing Le Touquet beach race with the Honda CR500 and then with the 450, so it was busy since Dakar. I had some days at home in Andorra where I was skiing up in the mountains, so that was really cool. I’m happy to be back in Portugal, happy to see the team again, it’s like a family you know, because we are together a huge part of the year at the races and I’m happy to see them again and share our common passion which is to race motorcycles.

Tosha Schareina ⁶⁸

For the European riders it is always so fun to ride on the type of terrains we will face on this rally. Riding different kinds of terrains is always good as part of the World Rally-Raid Championship, so I think on this one I will enjoy it a lot, although we’re waiting for the rain to start. I’m prepared for this rally, since Dakar I have been doing a lot of motocross, so I’m ready to do battle.