Monster Energy Honda HRC secures a double podium at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
After an exhilarating 1,920 kilometres of racing through the vast, unforgiving dunes of Abu Dhabi, Ricky Brabec and stage five winner Tosha Schareina delivered a thrilling performance today, finishing the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in second and third place respectively.
As the riders geared up for the final 167 kilometres against the clock the race was far from over as they headed towards the cost of the Arabian Gulf. Up front a battle was unfolding between overall leader Daniel Sanders and Ricky Brabec with 7’23” separating them while a tense contest was brewing further back for the final spot on the podium with just over two minutes dividing second place from sixth overall. With such a narrow margin, stage five promised to be a thrilling showdown where every second would count.
Ricky Brabec has showcased remarkable consistency throughout the six days of rally action and today was no exception as he ramped up the pace to close the gap. While Daniel Sanders maintained a solid time advantage throughout the stage, Brabec faced fierce competition from a fast-charging Tosha Schareina who was determined to secure a podium finish — and possibly even the runner-up spot. In the final stage results, Brabec was just a minute and a half behind his Spanish teammate but managed to retain the overall runner-up position with only 5’47” seconds separating him from Sanders.
Today’s stage five win went to Schareina who delivered a stunning fightback after yesterday. With grit and determination, he surged ahead on the final stretch and after more than 14 hours of intense racing, just 17 seconds separated Schareina from Brabec. Claiming the prologue and three stage victories, along with securing a podium finish in his first attempt at the rally, was an outstanding achievement for the Spaniard. This was especially impressive given the challenges he faced navigating the unforgiving dunes, including his role as the stage opener on multiple occasions.
The 2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge winner, Adrien Van Beveren was happy to finish this rally despite finishing in fifth place, a result that fell short of his expectations. Although the outcome wasn’t what he had hoped for, the Frenchman is focused on the next World Rally-Raid Championship round in South Africa and plans to use the upcoming break to intensify his preparation, aiming for a stronger and more competitive performance when the new addition to the calendar rolls around in three month’s time.
Skyler Howes displayed consistent pace throughout this year’s event, despite facing some suspension setup issues. After recovering from an injury last August he was thrilled to be back racing in the dunes. The American rider finished seventh overall and, like Van Beveren, will be aiming to return to full competitive form for round three.
Next up is the South African Safari Rally, a thrilling new addition to the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship, will take place from May 18–24.
Ruben Faria
We’ve arrived at the finish line of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, it wasn’t a perfect rally for us, however there were plenty of positives. We started the rally with four riders and we finished it with them all, so they rode safely, which is important too in a long championship like this one.
After his knee injury at the Rallye du Maroc last October, Ricky arrived to race at the Dakar Rally not at full fitness as it was really difficult for him to recover on time. He had a month to prepare for Abu Dhabi and so he’s getting fitter and showed he can fight for the victory. It’s not his favoured type of terrain as he prefers open desert, hard packed and stoney ground, but he did a really good rally here.
Tosha finished second at the Dakar even though he rode seven stages with a broken collarbone. Since then he’s had to just recover, so he didn’t get back on a bike until two days before Abu Dhabi. Of course, when you’re not riding for a month, you always feel that you are not in the best shape. But in the end he did a really good job to finish third with just that 17 second gap to Ricky. He’s already starting to think about round three in South Africa as he continues to sit in second in the championship.
Adrien won here two years ago and he’s always one of the fastest riders in the sand, however, this year’s result wasn’t his best. He missed a good result in the prologue so had to open the first day, which then meant that he lost quite a lot of time, which was difficult for him to recover. He managed to move up the standings yesterday, but today he couldn’t do anymore and had to settle for fifth. We want more from, as does Adrien himself, so he is now looking forward to the next round.
Skyler did a good race, the result was not perfect, but he had a very tough 2024 season with many injuries and some crashes. His start at Dakar was good as he started to gain confidence and here in Abu Dhabi it was more of a test for him, for his mind and to gain confidence. It was really good for him to finish this rally.
All of Monster Honda HRC did a good job and the Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes did well in the desert. We now look forward to South Africa.
Ricky Brabec 9
The final stage was good and was just full gas. I’m happy to be here at the finish line and looking forward to the next round. I broke my leg in October, so at the Dakar Rally I wasn’t exactly 100%. I’ve been doing some work since then with my knee and now the leg feels a lot better. We made a big step in the right direction with the bike and I’m happy with that.
Skyler Howes 10
Given my overall position I was having fun out there and just riding the dunes and making it to the finish line. This has been a positive race, every time the helmet goes on you want to win, but for me this race is more about making sure that I could make improvements with the bike and my confidence moving forward. Over the last two years leading up to this point, I haven’t had a lot of time to test and improve as it’s just been injuries and health issues back to back. So now my goal of getting through Dakar and now this race, is to keep adapting to the suspension and making sure my body is 100% and I get back to where I was a couple of years ago.
Adrien Van Beveren 42
It’s always nice to finish a race, I pushed hard and gave it my best, trying to be as fast as possible. It’s good to finish because rallies are tough however, I did enjoy it. I gave my best every day so I have no regrets. I couldn’t achieve the result I was looking for coming here, but this is racing, I will go back home, regroup and train again for the next one.
Tosha Schareina 68
With the times so close after yesterday, I tried to push to win the stage and I came away with third place overall. It was not an easy rally as it was outside of my comfort zone in the dunes. Yesterday, I lost too much time opening the stage, but it’s part of the game and we’ll go for it at the next race. We don’t have this kind of terrain in Spain and Europe, but if you want to be world champion you have to be fast on all kinds of terrain, so I have to adapt and improve.
Rally GP Result - Stage 5
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schareina Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | 02:03:27 |
| 2 | Brabec Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 01:31 |
| 3 | Benavides Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 02:22 |
| 4 | Sanders Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 03:07 | |
| 5 | Van Beveren Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 03:52 |
| 6 | Howes Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 05:25 |
| 7 | Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 06:03 |
Rally GP Provisional Standings After Stage 5
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanders Daniel | AUS | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | 14:20:56 | |
| 2 | Brabec Ricky | 9 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 05:47 |
| 3 | Schareina Tosha | 68 | SPA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 06:04 |
| 4 | Benavides Luciano | 1 | ARG | KTM Factory Racing Team | KTM | + 08:01 |
| 5 | Van Beveren Adrien | 42 | FRA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 09:52 |
| 6 | Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio | 11 | CHI | Hero Motorsports Team Rally | Hero | + 12:33 |
| 7 | Howes Skyler | 10 | USA | Monster Energy Honda HRC | Honda | + 18:17 |
Location Information
The legendary UAE Desert Challenge, one of the world’s most prestigious international cross country rallies founded by Emirati Motorsport legend, former EMSO President and the new FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem back in 1991, and over the years has seen many of the biggest names in international motorsport tackle the… read more.
Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates - View in Google Maps
Records
| 2024 | Aaron Mare (Hero) |
| 2023 | Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) |
| 2022 | Sam Sunderland (Gas Gas) |
| 2021 | Matthias Walkner (KTM) |
| 2019 | Sam Sunderland (KTM) |
| 2018 | Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) |
| 2017 | Sam Sunderland (KTM) |
| 2016 | Toby Price (KTM) |
| 2015 | Marc Coma (KTM) |
| 2014 | Paulo Gonçalves (Honda) |
