Schareina, Buhler, and AVB Sweep Overall | Portugal WRRC

Consistently fast, be it sand or trail, Monster Energy’s Tosha Schareina (Honda) rebounded from a crash-related injury at January’s Dakar Rally to win this past week’s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid in Portugal, Round 3 of the 2024 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship.

Schareina strung together multiple stage wins and podium finishes over the five-stage, plus Prologue, event to top runner-up, Monster Energy’s Sebastian Buhler (Hero Motosports), by 4:38, with Monster Energy’s Adrien Van Beveren rounding out the All-Monster Energy overall podium in 3rd place.

Said Schareina on his first overall WRRC victory with the Monster Energy/Honda factory program: “Here we are, in Portugal, taking my first victory in the World Championship. This is super special to me. The people of Portugal have been wonderful. I tried to be very confident, and of course we had to push every day. It was great to hang with all the Monster/Honda guys all week and I’m happy to take the win.”

Schareina opened the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid with a statement win in the Prologue, then followed that up with Stage 1 and 3 victories, taking the overall point lead at Stage 3 and carrying that through to the overall victory.

Taking the second rung in the overall Monster Energy podium sweep, Buhler, a native Portugues citizen, used his home court advantage, along with intimate familiarity of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid terrain, to grab the Stage 2 win, along with two other stage podiums, for 2nd overall.

Said Buhler: “Yes, I’m very happy. I think it was a perfect week. Overall beating Tosha would have been good, but he was very strong in this race – like every race. But yes, I’m happy how it went and happy for the Monster/Hero team. To keep the bike fast and safe is difficult, and the team did a very good job with that.”

Rounding out the podium in 3rd place, though it could have easily been 2nd place, possibly even 1st, was Van Beveren . Had it not been for a 12:00 penalty at Stage 1 when Van Beveren missed a waypoint, the 14:12 deficit at the end (to Schareina) would have made the final Stage 5, which Van Beveren won, even more thrilling than it already was. Still, Van Beveren took his 3rd place podium finish in stride and was pumped he could help with the Monster Energy podium sweep in Portugal.

“Portugal was technical, different, like a completely different theater than what we race in the desert. And I like it,” said Van Beveren. “To be a good rally racer is to be able to race in any conditions. Dirt, sand, rock – fast, slow – you have everything. And I think this kind of racing, what we had in Portugal, is something I enjoyed a lot. The new Honda CRF450 Rally is super amazing and happy to have helped develop the bike with the factory. I’m lucky and very proud to be part of this.”

Just off the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal podium was Monster Energy/Honda’s Skyler Howes, who placed 4th. Howes was actually in 3rd place heading into the final stage (5), and ended up crashing, though he still managed to finish. 5th place went to Ross Branch (Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy), who extended his overall WRRC series points lead to 21 points (61-40) over Van Beveren. 

Notes & Quotes

• “This was awesome to be racing back on European soil. The fans were awesome. Loved every second of having them out there. Felt really good today. Some dodgy sections, but kept it on two wheels. Looking forward to resetting for Argentina, while leaving Portugal in 1st place overall on the series. First time I’ve been in this position in World Championship and it feels great.” – Ross Branch, Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy
• Leading into Stage 5, Saturday’s Stage 4, which was won by Van Beveren, saw some major tire wear for all the racers as very abrasive gravel roads in the first sector had racers fighting to save their knobbies. As it stood, racers arrived back at the bivouac with, literally, bald and square-looking tires.
• “I came into this rally expecting a little bit more out of me, but I’m happy with the way I rode. Fighting for a podium in this race was a big step up for me. All the time spent on the bike, testing, working with the team was a super positive experience. Some negatives I can take away, take home and learn from. But there was also a lot of positives here. And I’ll take it as a positive result to finish this race all in once piece, head home and get ready for the Ruta 40 in Argentina.” – Skyler Howes, Monster Energy/Honda
• “Overall, all the riders really enjoyed being here. It defines a champion to be able to race in multitudes of different environments and terrain, cultures, weather - big deserts to tight tracks. In the end Portugal was a good race to have on the championship for all of us. And I am over the moon with effort from the Monster Energy racers from both the Honda and Hero programs. It doesn’t get any better than this. Our target is to find racers and race programs that can define what the Monster Energy brand is all about. Winning races. Winning championships.” – Joe Parsons, Monster Energy
• In the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship Manufacturer’s rankings, Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy, still has the lead over Monster Energy/Honda, although the Honda racers took a sizable chunk out of that lead in Portugal. After three WRRC rounds, in which Monster Energy/Honda has only competed in two, Hero leads 106-103, with two rounds remaining.
• The WRRC moves to Argentina for Round 4 of the series – the Desafio Ruta 40. Running through dry river beds, dunes and salt flats from the southern through the northern provinces of Argentina, the course features breathtaking vistas of Argentina’s countryside, which was once home to the Dakar Rally.

FIM World Rally-Raid Championship

BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, Portugal

Day 5 Final Stage Results

Stage 5

1st - Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda)

2nd - Sebastian Buhler (Monster Energy/Hero)

3rd - Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda)

Overall Final

1st - Schareina

2nd - Buhler

3rd - Van Beveren

Up next… The FIM World Rally-Raid Championship moves to Argentina for the 12th running of the Desafio Ruta 40, June 2nd through 8th. For more info on WRRC and Monster Energy’s racers with Honda and Hero, link to: www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com