Tosha Schareina battles up front on stage seven on a mixed day for Monster Energy Honda HRC
Today at 01:26 PM
The rain came down in Saudi Arabia for the start of stage seven on the 2025 Dakar Rally as the riders tackled a timed 411km loop around Al Duwadimi. After a brief delay to the day's action as the necessary safety helicopters were positioned on the stage, the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders were in confident mood after back-to-back stage wins ready to take on the day's stage.
Tosha Schareina had the bonus of not opening the stage and so made light work of the first dune section, to exit that section with just a three second advantage over Daniel Sanders. In what turned out to be a ding-dong battle between the top two riders on this Dakar, Tosha upped the pace so he was able to catch up with the lead out men, Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren. After the second refuelling the Spaniard took 2'04" of time bonuses and completed the stage 3'47" back from winner Daniel Sanders to remain in second position in the overall standings.
It was a positive day for Pablo Quintanilla who kept within the leading times on his Honda CRF450 RALLY to get to the finish line back at Al Duwadimi in third, 5'27" back of the stage winner. The Dakar Legend may have struggled to get into a steady rhythm on a few stages this year but with less dust to contend with due to some rain, the 2022 runner-up was very pleased with his stage podium achievement amongst the dunes.
Setting off the line in second, Adrien Van Beveren was gunning for another phenomenal stage similar to yesterday when he spent all day out front. He caught up with Ricky Brabec, who opened the day's proceedings, a mere 34kms into the stage enabling the team mates to ride together in order to crack the navigation and stay out front as much as possible. As a sand specialist, Adrien hung on to claim the fourth best time and although it was just seven minutes back, it was a worthy performance from the Frenchman as he continues to occupy third overall.
After his win yesterday and with the tricky task of opening the stage, Ricky Brabec struggled early on over the empty tracks with a navigation note catching him out. After doing a U-turn, he partnered up with teammate Adrien Van Beveren riding to the finish line together on what was a tough day for Ricky who conceded the ten minutes in time he'd gained yesterday in the general standings. Still in fourth overall, he will have a better starting position tomorrow and will look upon that to his advantage.
Skyler Howes got into the top ten after a gallant ride to the finish, but for a crash just 60km into the stage that set off his air bag and burst his hydration bag. Despite being winded he fought hard to the end but the crash means he has now dropped down to sixth, 38'48" off the leading time as he battles with Luciano Benavides in fifth.
With five days of action remaining, tomorrow's stage eight heads east out of Al Duwadimi to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. With a total 737km facing the riders tomorrow there'll be no let up for them as they continue their push across the Arabian landscapes as the remaining 1,323 kilometres against the clock count down on this year's Dakar Rally.
Ruben Faria
General Manager
Stage seven on this year’s Dakar Rally was a good day for us, tomorrow the riders will be faced with a really long stage with 483km against the clock, so it will be really tough. We have three riders that will set off in the top five places, Ricky will line up tenth and Skyler a place behind. We will try tomorrow with Ricky and Skyler to recover time, so we'll see how that goes. Tosha, Pablo and Adrien will try to catch Daniel Sanders on tomorrow's stage and hopefully reduce the time in the overall standings.
Pablo Quintanilla 7
Stage: 3rd Overall: 7th
It was a good day, I can't complain. I had fun on the bike, I felt good and I was able to push, so I'm super happy. The stage was not easy, there were some tricky navigation points, there were also a lot of dunes with many off piste sections. But I felt really good, I enjoyed the riding today and I finally had a good result. I'm happy with my riding, my navigation and I really enjoyed the day.
Ricky Brabec 9
Stage: 9th Overall: 4th
Stage seven was OK, not the best for us as opening absolutely kills you for an overall podium, but we got through the day and I'm happy to be here. With five days more of racing there’s still a good chance to claw back at a podium position. The road books have been super tricky and for race speed it’s almost impossible to race the guys starting further back.
It’s really a bummer the games that are being played with these tablets though, the organisation needs to do something about this as it is driving me crazy more than anything, but we will be back on top someday soon. We will fight until we’re happy and won’t stop until we win.
Skyler Howes 10
Stage: 10th Overall: 6th
Early on in the special I had a bit of a crash. I came over this crest and it had a rut and some rocks in it, the back tyre just stepped out and kind of catapulted me off the bike. I went flying and while I was in the air the air bag deployed. I felt that and knew I was going to be a bit protected when I hit the ground. I landed hard enough that it knocked the wind out of me and also popped my hydration bag on the back, so I laid on the ground for a bit with the air knocked out of me before I could catch my breath. I kept going, but from there it was hard to find the rhythm and continue on at full pace. I eventually found it but I'm pretty sore right now and looking forward to a hot shower and a massage.
I'm ready to keep going, I think I just go back to my original plan which is every day to take it for what it is.
Adrien Van Beveren 42
Stage: 4th Overall: 3rd
There are still a lot of kilometres to do but today we did a really good stage again. It was a good day to start a little further back, yesterday I didn't expect to be so far in front, but that's part of rally-raid. I'm giving my best everyday, so it's good and I'm happy about how my stage went today.
Tosha Schareina 68
Stage: 2nd Overall: 2nd
Today we had rain on the liaison and it was so cold too. The first part of the stage was so nice after the rain had fallen, the sandy section was really good to ride on. After the first refuelling I saw the dust of Nacho Cornejo so I tried to push to catch him which I did. After that we tried to push and catch the guys in front and in the last 200 kilometres we were riding together. With the rain and no dust it was easier for us to ride together and so I'm happy with my second place finish.
Rally GP Results – Stage 7
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Sanders Daniel AUS KTM Factory Racing Team 04:10:33
2 Schareina Tosha 68 SPA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 03:47
3 Quintanilla Pablo 7 CHI Monster Energy Honda HRC + 05:27
4 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 06:56
5 Benavides Luciano 1 ARG KTM Factory Racing Team + 07:24
6 Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio 11 CHI Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 08:04
7 Gonçalves Rui 19 POR Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 08:46
8 Santolino Lorenzo 15 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 09:27
9 Brabec Ricky 9 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 10:01
10 Howes Skyler 10 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 11:23
Rally GP Provisional Standings after Stage 7
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Sanders Daniel AUS KTM Factory Racing Team 39:29:22
2 Schareina Tosha 68 SPA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 15:33
3 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 26:07
4 Brabec Ricky 9 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 33:19
5 Benavides Luciano 1 ARG KTM Factory Racing Team + 37:32
6 Howes Skyler 10 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 38:48
7 Quintanilla Pablo 7 CHI Monster Energy Honda HRC + 46:19
8 Cornejo Florimo José Ignacio 11 CHI Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 52:43
9 Santolino Lorenzo 15 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory + 01:18:55
10 Svitko Stefan 142 SLO Slovnaft Rally Team + 01:49:07
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