Interview With Adrien Van Beveren: World Rally Raid Championship

October 23, 2024 (CORONA, Calif.) – With four podium finishes in four starts in the 2024 FIM World Rally Raid Championship, Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team’s Adrien Van Beveren scored the overall runner-up finish to Monster Energy’s Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), and added the lion’s share of points (76) to help the Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team to the WRRC’s Manufacturers’ Championship.

With an average of 19 points per race, and given the fact that Honda, prior to the start of the 2024 WRRC season decided to only run four of the five series rounds, Van Beveren very well could have won the overall title (ahead of Branch) with 95 points (19 point average x 5 rounds) to Branch’s 88 points.

But the decision was made and Van Beveren, along with his 3rd place overall Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team teammate Tosha Schareina, would soldier through the final WRRC round in Morrocco – despite knowing they were battling for 2nd and 3rd place podium spots.

Beginning with a podium 3rd place finish at the famed Dakar Rally, Van Beveren followed that up with a 3rd place finish at the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal, a runner-up 2nd place finish (to Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team’s Ricky Brabec) at the Infinia Desafio Ruta 40 in Portugal and, at the final WRRC round, Van Beveren placed 2nd (to Schareina) at Morrocco’s Rally Du Maroc.

Van Beveren’s runner-up finish this year was an improvement on his 2022 and ’23 3rd place finishes on the WRRC tour. So since it’s inception, Van Beveren has yet to finish off the WRRC overall podium – a feat no other racer can boast.

Monster Energy hit Van Beveren up with a few questions to get his take on this year’s World Rally Raid Championship, his Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team and what he’s got planned heading into Dakar to start the 2025 WRRC season.

Monster Energy: Adrien! Welcome back from Morocco. Such a spectacular area of the world to host a World Rally Raid Championship round. Talk a bit about your experience here recently at the Rallye Du Maroc.

Adrien Van Beveren: I was very happy with my performance and the level that I was able to deliver on the track. I didn’t have many big mistakes, but one day was really difficult for me – Stage 4. There was a mistake on the roadbook, not something to do with my navigation. Anyway, it can happen. I won’t stay on that point for too long, but, for sure, it was frustrating. But the level I was riding. The navigation skills. The bike (Honda CRF 450 Rally) and the work we did on the bike before the race – all that was really on point and we finished the championship in the second position. I now have four in a row. 2021 (the year prior to the series being officially known as the WRRC), 2022, 2023 and this year. My goal was the gold for sure, not 2nd place. 

ME: A podium 2nd place at Rally Du Maroc, along with WRRC round podiums at Dakar (3rd), Portugal (3rd) and Argentina (3rd) was a heck of a competition season for you. If you took your average points per round, 19, and added that figure to the Abu Dhabi round that Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team planned in advance to miss (for 2025 model testing purposes), you’d have, in theory, won the WRRC title by six points over Monster Energy’s Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports). Is that at all a source of frustration for you, or just something you knew in advance you at your Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team teammates would be facing for the 2024 WRRC season?

AVB: Yes, and Abu Dhabi I won the year before (2023), so I wasn’t able to defend my title there. It was a bit frustrating to not go there. But you have to respect that the bike was new (’25 model) and Japan did not want to go there in order to make more testing time. And this is part of it. It’s part of being a rider on this team. And this team provides me with the best bike now. So I accept this situation. But I also think, as you said in your question, that I would have been able to take this title had I raced Abu Dhabi. It's my kind of terrain and I would have been racing for the win again. I finished really close to Ross (Branch, 88-76), who scored 20 points there (Abu Dhabi). 

ME: With that tough question out of the way early, let’s discuss the highly positive points with your 2024 WRRC season. You were the most consistent racer – and highest scoring racer – for the Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team. Your 76 points put you solidly in 2nd place overall, and you never finished off the podium. Talk about your personal highlights of the season.

AVB: Yes, to be on the podium at Dakar, first and foremost, is the goal of everyone on the Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team. And three years in a row since I’ve been with Honda I’ve been on the overall World Rally Raid Championship podium – and best rider now all three years. So that was very important to me. And it’s good for the team because they know that they can count on me as a solid rider, consistent and I am a finisher. I finish what I start and this season in the best proof of that. But, to make the perfect career, I really want to win the Dakar. I used (Rallye DU) Maroc race to feel that I have the level to win. I am the man on the podium every race, so I really feel strong and confident for the next Dakar coming.

ME: At what WRRC round did you really have to dig the deepest to overcome adversity?

AVB: I would say that Morrocco was really the most frustrating race. For the roadbook mistake, and for the terrain. But it’s not the organization’s fault. There was much rain before and the terrain was really broken. But again, that’s part of rally. You really have to be able to ride anywhere. And I think it was really good training before Dakar. More than the other races, because it was really tough in rough terrain. And in Dakar you can sometimes find that. 

ME: And along those lines, what would have been A.) Your favorite WRRC round this season and B.) Which of your other races stood out amongst all of them?

AVB: The strongest one was to be on the podium of Dakar. It was the toughest one and the one that gave me the most happiness. I also enjoyed Argentina. We (WRRC) won’t be there next year, but I really can’t wait to get back for the people and the terrain. There is a lot of Dakar spirit there. From the past years when the Dakar took place there. And I really enjoyed Portugal, but unfortunately, I made a mistake, some roadbook details, which gave me a good penalty. But that’s part of rally racing and we have to accept that. Portugal was really different, and I enjoyed that a lot as well.

ME: You always do an excellent job with the media explaining the virtues of the Honda CRF 450 Rally. This year’s bike (2025), which you were deeply involved with in terms of input for improvements with the engineering and design, seemed to work out very well. Discuss that process, working with Japan and the Honda engineering team, to improve the already great 2024 model CRF 450 Rally. And, ultimately, what were the main changes to the bike that you and your Monster Energy/Honda Rally team members had input on?

AVB: I really respect the Japanese and how they stepped up with the Honda bike this year. This is a factory program. This is a factory bike. I feel so lucky. I talk about the chassis like I’m a kid. It’s the most quality gauge I will say. Premium. To race with this bike is a whole other thing. And to help develop it? With Honda listening to me and what I want the bike to do. So yeah, to be part of this team… I’m really lucky. Really happy. And this new bike, that we developed together, I was there to test the first prototype in Japan. And before we even rode it we were in the studio to see the sketches and the shape of the bike – virtually on the screen. So I feel really proud to ride and race this bike. I think it’s the weapon, the bike I need to make my dream happen.

ME: And just when you thought you had time to catch your breath… the Dakar Rally looms large on the horizon. Talk a bit about your training program for Dakar, what you handle on your own, then what your plans are – and when those begin – with the rest of the 2025 Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team.

AVB: There are really fast riders and good people on my side. So it’s always a pleasure. I have a lot of fun on the team. When I go racing I’m not only going for a job, but also my passion. And I share that when it’s time to race. I give 110-percent every single second. But I enjoy this activity a lot. And I feel, again, really lucky to be part of it. We train. We push each other. For Dakar there will be more testing, and trying to be even more precise with the system, the suspension settings, new roadbooks and trying to navigate even better. There will be weeks in front where we will put in the time in order to arrive at Dakar even stronger than ever. I’m feeling really confident and I am 100-percent focused on the Dakar and I want to arrive there as ‘The Lion.’

ME: Lastly, a lot went in to getting AVB on the overall WRRC podium (again). Who were some of the instrumental people that assisted with your success this season that you feel deserve a BIG “Thank you!”

AVB: Again, to finish, I must first say I am very grateful for my family, my girlfriend, my sisters, my parents, my grandparents even - all the people around that follow my job and try to be on my side every time that they can. They’re there to support me and allow me to be the best of myself.

ME: Thanks again, Adrien. It was our pleasure here at Monster Energy to work with you again this season on the WRRC tour and beyond. You always made yourself available and your answers to our questions definitely gave the Monster Army some excellent insight into the sport of off-road dirt bike racing. Thanks again and we look forward to working with you again in advance of Dakar and the 2025 WRRC season.

AVB: Of course. I’m super happy to be part of Honda, as I’ve said before, and Monster Energy for sure. You guys (Monster Energy) and have been my longest partner now. I was Monster Energy before I even started rally. So for me it’s also a dream to be representing this brand. But more than this, to share with this group of people, with Joe (Parsons, Monster Energy marketing rep for WRRC). When we go to the headquarters in California we are lucky to have the people at Monster investing in our sport. This is an expensive activity. And to be successful you need a lot of investment and energy and we know that, thanks to brands like Monster Energy, who make good ‘really good.’ 

2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (through 5 of 5 rounds) Overall Standings

1st – Ross Branch (Monster Energy/Hero), 88 points

2nd - Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda), 76 points

3rd – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda), 70 points

4th – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda), 63 points

5th – Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Monster Energy/Hero), 41 points

6th – Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda), 37 points

7th – Sebastian Buhler (Monster Energy/Hero), 29 points

8th – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda), 26 points

9th – Aaron Mare (Monster Energy/Hero), 25 points

Up next… The 2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship kicks off in January (3rd through 17th) with the legendary Dakar Rally. For more info on WRRC and Monster Energy’s racers with Honda and Hero, link to: www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com