2025 Dakar Rally Preview

Defending Dakar Rally champ Brabec (Honda) & ’24 WRRC overall champ Branch (Hero) lead the Monster Energy assault on Dakar, Price to contest SSV class.

Competition off-road motorcycle racing’s yearly crown jewel event, the 47th edition of the Dakar Rally, round 1 of the 2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship, is set to be unearthed this weekend in Saudi Arabia. Led by the Monster Energy-backed motorcycle racers from Honda and Hero, the class-leading field includes defending Dakar Champion Rick Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda HRC) and overall ’24 WRRC champion Ross Branch (Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy), who was the runner-up to Brabec at Dakar last year.

And joining the Monster Energy/Honda and Hero/Monster Energy racers on course is Dakar sophomore, Sara Price (Can-Am) – the first American woman to podium in a stage at Dakar, placing 4th overall (SSV class) in 2024 with co-driver Jeremy Gray.

Beginning this Saturday, Jan. 3, and running through Jan. 17, Monster Energy’s racers and teams will embark on a 15-day racing adventure for the sixth time in and around the famed Saudi Arabian desert’s Empty Quarter, racing flat out in the Specials and maintaining critical time through the Liaisons - a soul-buckling contest stretching some 8,000 kilometers – starting in Bisha, then across the Empty Quarter before finishing in Shubaytah. 14 days of racing, divided into 12 varying stages with only one day of rest, while painstakingly navigating highly detailed paths with separate routes for cars and motorcycles.

“Popularity of the Dakar Rally is at an all-time high. And the sport of off-road is growing in a positive way, particularly with the World Rally-Raid Championship and the addition this year of the South Africa Rally,” said Monster Energy’s Joe Parsons, Director of Special Marketing Projects: Europe, Middle East & Africa. “Also, more Americans seem to be racing the Dakar this year – more than I’ve ever seen in the 16 years of doing this event with Monster Energy.”

With a quick rewind to this past WRRC season, 2024 would be a banner year at Dakar for the southern California-based energy drink brand. In total, Monster Energy-backed racers won 10 of the possible 13 stages (12 stages plus the Prologue) and scored 24 (out of a possible 39) stage podium finishes at Dakar. And the effort by the Monster Energy/Honda HRC alone would earn them the coveted overall 2024 Dakar Constructor’s Championship.
 

Returning for his 10^th Dakar Rally, Brabec is the defending champion of the great race. Running the glowing green M-claw shod Honda CRF 450 Rally, the California native is coming off an abbreviated ’24 season that allowed Honda to re-define its already invincible Rally bike for the 2025 model year. Brabec saw great highs on this past year’s World Rally Raid Championship season (to which Dakar is the cornerstone event), winning, in addition to Dakar, the Desafio Ruta 40 Rally in Argentina.

Starting with Brabec, we asked all the Monster Energy-backed motorcycle division racers what the Dakar Rally means to them. 

Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda HRC): “Dakar, to me, means a way of life,” he said. “The first time I went to Dakar I was really hooked on it. And now, I can’t even imagine not being here – in the Dakar. So, for me the Dakar means a way of life. It grew on me and now it’s part of me. A piece of me is in Dakar. And Dakar is in my blood.”

And here’s what the rest had to say…

Ross Branch (Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy): “Dakar means the absolute world to me. It started as a dream as just a little kid, in 1992 when I went to go watch the Paris to Dakar, finishing in Cape Town (South Africa). It was a dream of mine just to compete in it. And that dream turned into a reality in 2019 when I did the Dakar for the first time. And I loved every second of it! Now I’m addicted to Dakar. Every December we get to come and see all my new rally friends, and my old friends, and it’s really a feeling that I can’t describe. Really happy and super proud to be part of such a great community.”

Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda HRC): “Really happy to be back in Saudi. I had an amazing preparation this year, which is always a stress before the race to complete the training. Makes me happy to be here and ready for the race in the best health and preparation. I really try to use my experience from the past years. This will be my 10^th Dakar, which is really a lot. And I can’t believe it because I feel that I’m still a young rider. I enjoy so much my riding with Honda. And I feel with Honda I have all the chance on my side. I enjoy the competition, the atmosphere on the team, the bivouac. All of it. The team spirit, sharing with my teammates and the partners of the team. My dream is to get the win. Last year I was on the podium (3^rd). Getting closer. Push hard, but not too hard. Make the best of any situation when it’s good – and when it’s bad. This is the spirit I have right now during these 15 days.”

Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda HRC): “This is the race that we are preparing to win all year long. It’s the race we dream about, since I was a kid. Dreaming of this moment. Now we are here, in the middle of the desert. With a dream team. With a dream family. Awesome team, and my second family. I appreciate this a lot. We’re going to do our best to go to the summit. We will go for it.”

Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy): “For me, Dakar has become my lifestyle. I followed it when I was a kid, knew all the riders. Then, when it came to South America, I saw it for the first time because the race came through my hometown (Chile). So I always imagine myself racing, and now almost a decade here – my 10^th Dakar – (it) puts you in a test both mentally and physically. It’s a race that teaches you not only how to be a rider and a motorcycle racer, but also on the human side it teaches you a lot. So for me, Dakar has become my lifestyle. And without it I would feel that something is missing.”

Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda HRC): “The Dakar, I guess, is like the ultimate dream. I grew up watching the Dakar with my dad and looking up to other American legends like Jimmy Lewis, Johnny Campbell, Chris Blais and Kurt Caselli while I was growing up. I was always thinking like, ‘Man, this is the ultimate test of body, mind and machine. Like the coolest thing. Grew up racing in the desert, but always looked at Dakar as the ultimate race in the world. The longest and most difficult. People used to always ask me what I wanted to do with my racing, and Dakar was always the ultimate dream. Now, especially to be on the Monster Energy/Honda Rally Team, is beyond my dreams. My biggest dream had been just to race the Dakar. Now to be fighting for the highest step on the podium, with the best team there is, and surrounded by amazing people and receiving incredible support. It’s the ultimate dream, but beyond my dreams. So Dakar, to me, means to have a goal and push beyond it. You never know what you’re capable of until you go out there and give it a shot. And to be where I’m at today is something I’m super proud of.”

Sebastian Buher (Hero/Monster Energy): “Dakar for me this is the big adventure. For sure it’s a race, but for me it’s an adventure. Only those who have been here in Dakar know what it means. The racing is hard, the stages are hard. Everybody thinks it’s like a marathon race, but in the end the stages are so intense – that’s what makes Dakar. The biggest off-road race in the world. I love it. It was a dream of mine as a kid. Been here six years now and I’m very happy. Looking forward to this edition.”

Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda HRC): “Well, Dakar has been a very important part of my life. 13 years now doing this race every year. Of course with ups and downs, but I’m very grateful to be doing this adventure with this amazing team – Monster Energy and Honda HRC. I’m very grateful, also, for all the good things that this race give me and teaches me. About life. About myself. About hard work and motivation. To believe in myself and continue to follow my dreams. To live this experience, and to give my 100 percent, to race for the victory and enjoy the moment. The process. Looking forward to starting this big adventure one more time.”

2024 Monster Energy/Dakar Rally Motorcycle Standings (Final)

Place/Name/Team
Time

1^st – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda HRC)
51:30:08

2^nd – Ross Branch (Hero/Monster Energy)
51:41:01 (- minus 10:53)

3^rd – Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda HRC)
51:42:33 (- minus 12:25)

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

1^st – Ross Branch (Monster Energy/Hero), 88 points
2^nd - Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 76 points
3^rd – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 70 points
4^th – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 63 points
5^th – Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Monster Energy/Hero), 41 points
6^th – Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 37 points
7^th – Sebastian Buhler (Monster Energy/Hero), 29 points
8^th – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda HRC), 26 points
9^th – Aaron Mare (Monster Energy/Hero), 25 points

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