Ricky Brabec and Tosha Schareina have been locked in a battle of seconds since the start of the rally! On Sunday, the Spaniard won the prologue by 2 seconds over the American, who hit back the very next day, taking stage 1 by just under a second. That was also the gap separating them today at the km 370 time check, the last before the finish. The rider from Valencia eventually won by 7 seconds over the Californian, who retained the overall rally lead. Brabec will start the final special with an advantage of 1′27″ over Schareina and 4′28″over Adrien Van Beveren, third on the day and overall.

Pablo Eli, the mastermind behind the route of the rally, had warned that stage 3 would be an absolute nightmare for navigation. Adrien Van Beveren, who started first after his win yesterday, paid the price, as did the Hero riders Ross Branch and Sebastian Bühler, who lost precious minutes searching for their bearings. The sixth man on the road, Ricky Brabec, avoided any errors.

Back in the day, he had his heart set on bagging the Dakar in Argentina (see "Did you know"), but fate had other plans. He continues to chase his dream in the Saudi desert, but he still aspires to win a rally in South America. He was the first leader of the 2023 Desafío Ruta 40 before finishing just outside the W2RC podium. This time round, Adrien Van Beveren is playing it canny. After finishing fourth in the prologue and third in stage 1, today he turned on the afterburners on the road to San Juan. The Honda rider claimed the longest special of the event (423 km) ahead of his teammate Skyler Howes (+27″), the Hero of Sebastian Bühler (+1′09″) and the CRFs of Tosha Schareina (+1′39″) and Ricky Brabec (+3′42″). He also vaulted to the top of the leader board by 10 seconds over Schareina and 2′14″ over Brabec. The American triumphed in the Dakar and the Spaniard in Portugal, but the Frenchman has yet to taste victory this season. Honda are hogging the provisional podium, but Bühler and his Hero remain well within striking distance in fourth place, 2′34″ down.

Slippery ground and a succession of bewildering corners —that was the W2RC convoy's introduction to the region in stage 1, a loop around Córdoba. Among the Rally GP motorbikes, Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda) came 1 second short of his teammate Ricky Brabec. The Spaniard clung to a slender overall lead over the American and his Honda stablemate Adrien Van Beveren. Bradley Cox (BAS World KTM Racing) wrested the Rally 2 lead back from Romain Dumontier (Team Honda). John Medina (Xraids Experience) leads in Rally 3.

Monster Energy Honda Team rider Tosha Schareina began the longest day of the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal with a 2min 56sec cushion over Hero Motorsports Rally Team rider Sebastien Bühler.

The Spaniard was able to fend off the German’s challenge as the event crossed the border into Spain. Both riders were the class of the field but Schareina clocked the quickest time and extended his lead to 3min 40sec. The win marked his third of the campaign after the Prologue and stage one successes.

Sebastian Bühler, the most Portuguese of the German riders, was born on German soil but moved to Portugal when he was three months old. Boasting dual nationality, he now lives in Relíquias, in Grândola, the epicentre of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal. Where better to toast his first W2RC victory? Dominating stage 2 from flag to flag, the Hero MotoSports factory rider cashed in on his home advantage to become the twentieth rider to clinch an FIM stage win since the 2022 season. This makes him the fourth stage winner for the Indian maker, following in the slipstream of Joaquim Rodrigues, Ross Branch and Aaron Mare.

Stage 1 of Dakar 2024 was the first real test for the riders, and it delivered in every way. Ross Branch (Botswana - Hero Motosports Team Rally) took a dominating stage win, and we saw yesterday’s prologue winner Tosha Schareina (Spain - Monster Energy Honda Team) abandon the race with a broken wrist.

Tosha Schareina had a dream start to Dakar 2024, taking the prologue win in 17’35.9 at an average speed of 92.31kph. Schareina finished 12 seconds ahead of Daniel Sanders and 19 seconds ahead of third-place Daniel Sanders. For Schareina, it’s a perfect start with his new Monster Energy Honda team. “I had a great 2023 and now a great prologue, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. We have a very good bike and a very good team. We have all the ingredients but we have to be humble and just see how the rally goes.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Kevin Benavides and Toby Price are fully focused on success as they complete their final preparations ahead of the 2024 Dakar Rally, which starts in Saudi Arabia on January 5. Matthias Walkner will unfortunately miss the race following a recent injury to his left leg.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Matthias Walkner is recovering well following surgery to repair an injury to his left leg, which he sustained while training in the United States. However, the damage is such that the Austrian will be unable to compete in the Dakar Rally in January. Teammate Kevin Benavides also injured his left leg while training recently, but the Argentinian is expected to be back riding in time for Dakar.