Honda’s Schareina wins BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal’s Stage 3, takes o/a race lead

Ripping up his home country’s sandy terrain aboard his industry-leading CRF450 Rally motorcycle, in true Dakar style, Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s Tosha Schareina captured top honors at today’s Stage 3 of the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship’s fourth tour spot – the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, Portugal.

With the Stage 3 victory and a combined Special/Liaison time of 3:13:51, Schareina topped BP Rally RallyGP class points leader Daniels Sanders (KTM) by 3:18, and now holds the overall rally lead by 1:42 over Sanders. And joining Schareina in the top five (4^th) following the 511 km Stage 3, despite a late-stage crash and rather graphic hand injury, was his Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally teammate, two-time Dakar Rally champion, Ricky Brabec, with third teammate, Skyler Howes, rounding out the top five (5^th).

“Yes, for sure. It was very exciting to see that crowd and they helped push me on today,” said Schareina, of his home country advantage in Spain on Stage 3. Then, regarding his neck-and-neck battle with Sanders, Schareina added: “It will be two really hard days in the front as we race back to Lisbon. It won’t be easy as we get closer to the end.”

For Brabec, a strong stage would nearly be lost when, just minutes from the finish line, Brabec suffered a crash and dislocated his pinky finger. Righting his bike and, in true Dakar fashion, Brabec popped his pinky back in and rallied back to his 4^th place finish.

“Rode well all day, with the exception of a little mistake near the finish line,” explained Brabec. “My pinky was completely sideways, so I had to freakin’ put it back in its spot. But yeah, it is what it is. I can keep racing.”

For Howes, Thursday’s top five run was his best finish thus far in the BP Rally. He was pleased to get back into the wide open, more Dakar-like sand racing – amping him up for the final two stages this weekend.

“Today was a little bit more my style, less trees, more open,” said Howes. “I was a lot more comfortable out there and getting more back into the zone here. Felt a little bit more like myself here.”

Topping the Rally2 class for Monster Energy, and rallying back from a broken radiator in Stage 2, was overall class points leader Tobias Ebster (Hero Motorsports), who placed 4^th on Stage 3.

Stage 3 Notes:

• Friday’s Stage 3 was the longest stage of the BP Rally. Running 512 km, with combination of technical navigation and deep sandy sections over 308 km, the stage was a true test of man and machine coupled with physical endurance and mental fortitude.
• “Overall the day was good. I was maybe just trying to go a little bit too fast after refueling. Our tires were smoked and I was just trying to find traction, riding like a gear high. Came over one rise in to a sweeping right hander and, I dunno, came in a little too hot and, literally, slid into a bank (vs. hitting a ditch and a fence) and that’s where I jacked up my pinky.” – Brabec on his Stage 3 crash.
• As mentally tough as he and the other WRRC racers are, Howes was dealing with an especially difficult situation given the recent passing of his mother. “It’s a bit strange. I want to say I’m tough mentally, and I thought I was mentally tough, but of course, the death of your mother is not easy – no matter who you are. And of course, the first few days, I think there’s always something in the back of your mind maybe.”
• “It was more like the stuff I do at home, Best in the Desert racing.” – added Howes on Friday’s Stage 3 course.
• BP Ultimate update: “After four days of intense competition and more than 736 km against the clock across the dirt tracks of Ribatejo, Alentejo, and Spain’s Extremadura, the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal now enters its decisive phases.”
• Said Honda team boss Ruben Faria: “It was a really good result for us today with Tosha’s stage win and this was really good for the overall standings as he now leads with a 1’42” gap. Ricky did a strong stage today but, unluckily crashed near the end of the stage and he lost around a minute of time and he had some damage on his bike and to himself. But he got to the end of the stage and he’s now ready for tomorrow.”
• Following two day of racing in Spain, Stage 4 delivers the racers back to Portugal, running form Badajoz to the Atlantic coast. The race’s penultimate stage, some 274 km vs. the clock, Stage 4 sets up an epic run to the final finish line in Portugal’s capital city of Lisbon.

WRRC BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal

Stage 3 (Place/Name/Team/Time) RallyGP class

1^st – Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda), 3:13:51

4^th – Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda), + 3:46

5^th – Howes (Monster Energy/Honda), + 4:33

RallyGP 2 class

4^th – Ebster (Monster Energy/Hero), + 3:43

7^th – Campbell (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), + 7:11

Monster Energy WRRC Motorcycle GP class standings (after 3 of 5 rounds)

Place/Name/Team

3^rd – Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda), 53 points             

4^th – Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda), 48 points

5^th – Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda), 46 points

6^th – Howes (Monster Energy/Honda), 35 points

6^th – Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy), 34 points

9^th – Branch (Hero/Monster Energy), 8 points

2025 FIM World Rally-Raid GP2 class standings (after 3 of 5 rounds)

1^st – Ebster (Hero/Monster Energy), 66 points

Up next: 

The BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal’s Stage 4 on Saturday on the trails the towns of Mourão, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portel, and Évora, before finishing in Lisbon, at Doca de Pedrouços.