Stage 3 @ Dakar 2025: Brabec & Howes go 2-3

Curiously, motorcycle division leader Daniel Sanders (KTM), who had a roughly 5-minute lead over 2^nd place Howes to open Stage 3, placed 17^th on Stage 3 – nearly 6 minutes behind Howes. Without any posted penalties on the official event website, Sanders should have had his lead over 2^nd place Howes cut down to below 2 minutes. Instead, the lead is listed at nearly 7 minutes (6:51).

“Lots of riders and teams in the motorcycle class seem to be having glitches in the new digital tablet,” said Monster Energy’s Joe Parsons. “There have been complaints that nothing has been done, but today time was given back to KTM and Sanders and we’re not really sure why.”

For the record, Sanders was given nearly five minutes (4:57 to be exact) of the time he lost today due to what race officials deemed to be a faulty tablet. None of the other racers, suffering the same issues, were awarded any time back.

The rest of the Monster Energy racers finished well ahead of race leader Sanders on Stage 3. Led by defending WRRC champion Ross Branch (Hero, fueled by Monster Energy) in 4^th place, the top ten also featured Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally) in 7^th, teammate Adrien Van Beveren in 11^th and Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero) in 13^th.

The 2025 Dakar Rally’s Stage 4 on Wednesday departs from Al Henakiyah and covers 415 km of Special terrain (963 total km with Liaison travel). A “marathon stage” according to organizers, the Monster Energy’s Honda & Hero racers will have to contend with volcanic terrain and canyons as they – cautiously - make their way towards the bivouac in Alula. Racers, without their usual mechanics, will have to work on their bikes by themselves, for no more than 90 minutes, to prepare them for Thursday’s stage.

Overall, with Sanders being gifted some five minutes back following his 17^th place Stage 3 finish, he leads 2^nd place Howes by 6:51 heading into Stage 4. Monster Energy’s Branch picks it up in the 3^rd position, just eight seconds back of Howes. Brabec (4^th, 9:15 back of Sanders) and his Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally teammate, Tosha Schareina (5^th, 13:11 back) round out the motorcycle division’s top five.

LOOKING FOR A VIDEO RECAP? CHECK OUT THE STAGE 3 HIGHLIGHTS HERE!

Said Howes: “Definitely not sunshine and rainbows today. The first 100 kilometers were tricky. Lot of silt and rocks. Like lava rocks. The navigation was a little bit tricky as well. I had one little mistake in this construction zone. Got stuck in like this boulder field that a bulldozer made. It was a strange note – and I just did it wrong. But just after this I was able to catch up to Sanders. We got into this zone where it just started raining, so all the good tracks were kind blended in. Made the navigation quite difficult. We just kind of wandered around, following the cap headings to find the right way. After this Tosha caught up. All three of us were riding together for a while, doing well with the navigation, keeping the pace high. Then, around kilometer 270, those guys ended up, uh, like not finding the right way. I just ended up finding the right track and opened up the next waypoint and continued on. Those guys ended up getting lost for quite a bit. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the day went for myself. It wasn’t perfect, but I’m pretty stoked to get the navigation good. Wet dirt and sunny skies were awesome when we had it. I had a smile on my face just ripping the wet dirt and riding with those guys.”

Said Brabec: “Yes, Stage 3 was descent. Real demanding in the morning. Lot of rocks and tricky navigation. I didn’t feel like I was riding that well. At refueling I realized pretty much everyone was at the same time gaps as when we started. So nothing to do there. Then after refueling I decided to make a little bit of a charge, tried to catch … somebody? Didn’t know I was up front of the stage. Then I made a big mistake at kilometer 300, 295ish. Lost about four minutes there. But, it looks like we got 2^nd on the stage. Tomorrow, Stage 4, is a marathon. Leading into rest day. Start up front again, and hopefully we can catch some rest time. Top five guys are really tight, but that means the guys behind me can make up some time. But after tomorrow, we’ll see what happens. Then try to play the game a little bit. See where we need to slow down… see where we need to speed up. So after tomorrow we’ll see what happens and go from there.”

Stage 3 Notes:

• The controversy over race organizers handing KTM’s Daniel Sanders five minutes of time back spilled over into the bivouac after the racers returned from Stage 3. Sanders had actually finished in 22^nd place, his overall lead ahead of Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s Skyler Howes dropping down to below two minutes. It was reported that a huge number of riders all suffered roadbook malfunctions, and absolutely none of them received time back (like Sanders did).
• This, of course, infuriated a number of racers, including Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero, fueled by Monster Energy), who posted on Instagram: “What is happening @dakarally? Lots of riders had problems with the electronic roadbook on these days and to nobody you have give time back until today.” He finished with a jab, saying, “(Do) We need to come from a first world country to be heard?”
• Weather conditions continued to be wild, even in and around the Saudi desert. Word from the Al Henakiyah bivouac is that there’s snow at the next bivouac (Alula).
• Nice job for Lorenzo Santolino, who turned some heads by winning his first Dakar stage on Tuesday. And not only was it the Spanish racer’s inaugural Dakar stage victory, it was also the first stage win for the Sherco brand motorcycle since 2019. So congrats from Monster Energy on that effort!
• USA! USA! The Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally Ricky Brabec (2^nd) & Skyler Howes (3^rd) podium effort was the first time this rally, and in a number of years, that two Americans had been on the Dakar podium together. 
• Reminder from NBC: “The Dakar Rally, a 12-stage automotive quest across the vast deserts, rocky mountains and coastal plains of Saudi Arabia, begins Friday, Jan. 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Channel and continues through Friday, Jan. 17. Episodes will be available on-demand on Peacock TV.”

Monster Energy Dakar Chrono Stage 3 Motorcycle Results

Place/Name/Team/Time

2^nd – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda)
03:48:35 (- minus 00:04:01)

3^rd – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda) 
03:48:44 (- minus 00:04:10)

4^th – Ross Branch (Hero/Monster Energy)
03:48:48 (- minus 00:04:14)

Monster Energy Dakar Motorcycle Standings (after Stage 3)

Place/Name/Team/Time

2^nd – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda) 
20:11:51 (- minus 00:06:51)

3^rd – Ross Branch (Hero/Monster Energy) 
20:11:59 (- minus 00:06:59)

4^th – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda)
20:14:15 (- minus 00:09:15)

5^th – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda)
20:18:11 (- minus 00:13:11)

Monster Energy Dakar SSV Class

Stage 3 SSV Results

32^nd – Sara Price (Can-Am Factory Team)
24:11:50  (- minus 20:25:13)

Overall

33^rd – Sara Price (Can-Am Factory Team)
97:22:04  (- minus 76:33:48)

Up next…

The 2025 Dakar Rally’s Stage 4 on Wednesday departs from Al Henakiyah and covers 415 km of Special terrain (963 total km with Liaison travel). A “marathon stage” according to organizers, the Monster Energy’s Honda & Hero racers will have to contend with volcanic terrain and canyons as they – cautiously - make their way towards the bivouac in Alula. Racers, without their usual mechanics, will have to work on their bikes by themselves, for no more than 90 minutes, to prepare them for Thursday’s stage. For more information, including “Live” timing and scoring, visit www.dakar.com