The closest finish in Dakar Rally history saw Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Ricky Brabec lose victory by a heartbreaking two seconds.

Heading into the final stage of this year’s event, Brabec held a 3’20” advantage over his main rival, Luciano Benavides, after claiming the previous day’s stage win.  With just 105 km of timed competition remaining, Brabec knew that opening the stage would leave him without tracks to follow, placing a premium on precise navigation as he chased a third Dakar title.

The final special stage featured two timed sections separated by a liaison, with riders first tackling technical mountain valley tracks before switching to a faster route along the Red Sea coastline en route to the finish line at the Yanbu bivouac.  Brabec set a strong pace early, but a navigation issue just seven kilometres from the finish cost him valuable time, ultimately denying him the coveted Bedouin Trophy.

It was a dramatic conclusion to 49 hours and 41 seconds of racing across 4,737 km of Saudi Arabia.  Despite claiming two stage victories in 2026 and bringing his Dakar stage win tally to 13, Brabec was left with a bittersweet runner-up finish.

Tosha Schareina claimed a stage podium on the final day, capping a rollercoaster two weeks.  The 2025 runner-up entered the 48th edition as one of the favourites, but a ten-minute penalty for an incorrect starting procedure on the first marathon stage forced him to rethink his strategy.  With three stage victories and a determined second-week comeback, Schareina ultimately joined teammate Brabec on the final podium in Yanbu.

Skyler Howes experienced the full spectrum of Dakar highs and lows.  A tyre issue on the first marathon stage derailed his early ambitions, but he rebounded in the final week to claim his first-ever Dakar stage victory and finish fourth overall in the opening World Rally-Raid Championship round.

Adrien Van Beveren endured a challenging 11th Dakar Rally.  His first week was compromised by a crash, metal wire becoming lodged in his wheel on stage five and difficulty finding rhythm.  Determined to turn things around, the Frenchman delivered a strong second week.  Once dialled in on his Honda CRF450 RALLY, he claimed victory on stage ten and consistently ran at the front, securing a positive sixth-place finish overall.

After a demanding Dakar, the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders will now enjoy a well-earned break before regrouping in two months’ time for Rally-Raid Portugal, taking place from 17-22 March.

Ruben Faria

General Manager

The last day of Dakar 2026 didn’t bring the result we were expecting, but this is Dakar — this is rally raid. Six kilometres from the end of the final stage, Ricky turned left slightly too early. He didn’t take the correct track, lost a significant amount of time, and crossed the finish line just two seconds behind Luciano. 
Going into today, Ricky had a good margin thanks to the time bonuses — a gap of 4 minutes and 42 seconds over second place. With that small mistake, we lost the Dakar by just two seconds. Of course, we wanted more. We wanted to win, but we have to accept the result. 
Overall, it was still a strong performance for the team: Ricky finished second, Tosha third, Skyler fourth, and Adrien sixth. Ricky delivered a very solid Dakar. Tosha made a mistake in the first week but still managed to finish with a strong overall result. Skyler struggled during the first week but recovered well in the second. Adrien lost almost an hour when a cable that was in the middle of nowhere got stuck in his wheel , yet he had an excellent second week. 
Naturally, we expected more — the goal was to win, and we finished incredibly close. This has never happened before. We’ll keep pushing, aim to win the next races, and come back even stronger for the next Dakar. The team did a great job, and the Honda bikes performed extremely well throughout the rally.

Ricky Brabec 9
Stage: 8th Overall: 2nd
This Dakar was a real fight from start to finish. On the final stage, a quite confusing note led me to choose a line that wasn’t the correct one. When I turned back, Luciano was coming behind me and, seeing the situation, he stayed on the right track, which made the difference in such a close battle.

Skyler Howes 10
Stage: 5th Overall: 4th
A lot of crazy stuff out there. I’m super happy to make it to the finish line of this one, a lot of adversity, some things to overcome and some really good riding. I’m happy with how I rode, the team did a great job, they did awesome with the mechanics, the logistics and I’m super happy to be a part of Monster Energy Honda HRC and to make it to the finish line of this one. A lot of things to clean up on my end. As far as everything else that went for me this race, stage one I needed a little bit more patience. I got really lucky this time, my mom is looking over me and she made sure I got to the finish line of this one. So I’m super proud of that and this one is for her.

Adrien Van Beveren 42
Stage: 4th Overall: 6th
They often say that just finishing a Dakar is a victory in itself, and I want to take heart from that, but I also feel like I could've used a third week! I had a tough first week, struggling a bit to find my rhythm and dealing with all sorts of drama: a crash, a coil of wire getting caught in my wheel. It was a hyper-eventful opening week. The second week started much better; the stages were really solid, we bagged a win and I was in the hunt every day. That's what I am going to take away from this to come back in 2027. I think I took a bit of a knock to my confidence in Portugal. Getting your mojo back after a crash like that takes time, and I think that process was just what I needed.

Tosha Schareina 68
Stage: 3rd Overall: 3rd
A few years ago, I was fighting just to be in the race. Today, standing on the podium almost feels like business as usual. But I have to be realistic; it feels so good to stand on the podium. I've fought my whole life for this. I'm happy that we have put two Hondas on the podium. I still need to find a few gains in certain areas, but I'm on the right track. The penalty didn't help me in the overall, so I had to pivot my strategy. Sometimes you have to pay more attention to those details or the navigation, and I was also a bit off the pace in the high-speed sections.

 

Source: Monster Energy Honda HRC