Price places 1st (SSV), Van Beveren places 2nd (Bike) on final Dakar stage

Overall on the charts, Monster Energy would be led by Tosha Schareina (Honda HRC Rally), who scored his very first overall Dakar podium finish, placing 2^nd in a tough battle vs. KTM’s Daniel Sanders. Rounding out the motorcycle division podium for Monster Energy was Van Beveren, who placed 3^rd.

Said Schareina, who exited the ’24 Dakar in the 1^st stage with a broken wrist: “So happy to be here. Finally at the finish line. This was really, really hard for everybody, but I’m super happy because we had lot of problems like everybody – but finally we are here. Three years ago, we were fighting just to race here at Dakar, now we were fighting for the win. So, I’m super happy and hungry for more.”

Added Van Beveren, with his second-straight 3^rd place run at Dakar: “It was an amazing Dakar. The most difficult I have raced.”

Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s show of force at the ’25 Dakar was evident on down the leader board as the team would put four racers in the top six positions. Joining Schareina and Van Beveren high in the standings were two-time Dakar champion Ricky Brabec (5^th) and Skyler Howes in 6^th position. Add to that Jose “Nacho” Cornejo’s (Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy) solid 7^th place run and Monster Energy populated five of the top seven positions overall.

“This was a hard fought 12 days of grueling racing here in Saudi Arabia,” said Monster Energy’s Joe Parsons. “At the Dakar, we come to win – that is the objective. Anything else is not why we’re here. But at the same time, five riders in the top seven is a huge achievement in my opinion. We now pack up and head back to the race shop to continue to develop our programs and get ready for Round 2 of the WRRC in Abu Dhabi.”

For Price and her co-driver Sean Berriman, their 27^th place overall position doesn’t nearly reflect the effort they put into the Dakar. Plagued by all sorts of mechanical/electrical gremlins early on, the two hit their stride in the later stages of the race, scoring a couple victories and multiple top ten finishes.

“Yeah, it was an awesome day. I was so pumped on the (Can-Am) Maverick car,” said Price of her Stage 12 victory. “We obviously took a hit in the beginning (pointing to the front end of her SSV), but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. All of our (front end) plastics came off and some of the electrical wrapped around our axle boot. But it held together.”

LOOING FOR A VIDEO RECAP? CHECK OUT STAGE 12 HIGHLIGHTS HERE!

Said Van Beveren: “We have to risk so much to be up front. I really tried to be on top of the podium, but we couldn’t do it this time. But I like to ride motorcycles in the desert… so I will come back.”

Said Brabec: “I’m happy to be at the finish line. This is my tenth Dakar, so it means a lot to me. When I started this career, I didn’t know what I would have done, so it’s cool. I’ve won twice, been on the podium in second place one time, and I was hoping for this time to get on the podium at some point… but like I said, I wasn’t able to make a breakthrough. The guys are riding really well and hat’s off to them.”

Said Howes: “There’s obviously work to be done. We want to finish on the podium. So 6^th place just means that we have to beat five other people, and we’ve got work to do this year. We’re going to get straight back to it. There’s no rest days, so we’re just going to get back to work, and come back swinging next year.”

Said Price: “Today was a tough day and Sean (Berriman) killed it. The broken dunes really get you – and I can’t thank my dad enough for making me grow up in the dunes.”

Stage 12 Notes:

“We got beat. We got our ass kicked. So, now we’re going to be more hungry for the next year. So, next year we’re going go be ready to fight. And we’ll see what happens then.” – Brabec, who’s top five finish can be considered especially heroic considering he was returning from a tibia plateau fracture suffered at the final round of the 2024 WRRC (Rallye Du Maroc).
2025 marked the 6^th year the Dakar Rally has run in Saudi Arabia. For the previous decade, it had been raced in South America, though it was originally run between Paris and Dakar (the capital city of Senegal).
“It’s life, you know? Every year when I was a child, I would sit on the sofa and see my idols (on TV). But now we are here with them.” – Schareina on how big of an opportunity it is just to race Dakar.
Straight facts: 12 stages plus a Prologue. 7,453 kilometers (for the motorcycles) over 13 days. 47^th edition of Dakar. 77 motorcycles, 175 vehicles – including 23 SSVs. 108, or 32.25%, retired from the race early.
Also, three cheers from Monster Energy to Al-Rajhi (Overdrive), who became the first Saudi Arabian to win the Dakar Rally’s car division.
More Brabec (on winning back-to-back Dakar titles)… “Winning back-to-back has been impossible for the past ten years. I really wanted to win back-to-back, and sinking was not an option. I have it tattooed on me. Giving up is not an option. I think I want to keep going until I win it again. Three times. And hopefully, we can do it next year.”
Shout out to Monster Energy’s fallen Dakar racers – defending WRRC champion Ross Branch (Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy), his teammate Sebastian Buhler, and Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s Pablo Quintanilla – all of whom were pressing hard when they crashed out of the contest prior to the finish.
Added Schareina on the much-talked-about time penalty (erasure) gift given to Sanders: “I think the ten minutes, more or less, he took on the first day allowed him to control the race from then.” Schareina would also add that Sanders did a “Great job,” adding “I’m super happy for them (KTM).”

Monster Energy Dakar FINAL Stage 12 Motorcycle Results

Place/Name/Team/Time

1^st – Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda)
00:54:14

3^rd – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda)
00:55:08 (- minus 00:00:54)

7^th – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda)
00:56:33 (- minus 00:02:19)

8^th – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda)
00:56:33 (- minus 00:02:19)

9^th – Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy)
00:56:39 (- minus 00:02:25)

Monster Energy Dakar Motorcycle Standings (after FINAL Stage 12)

Place/Name/Team/Time

2^nd – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda)
53:17:42 (- minus 00:08:50)

3^rd– Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda)
53:23:38 (- minus 00:14:46)

5^th – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda)
53:38:42 (- minus 00:29:50)

6^th – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda)
53:51:36 (- minus 00:42:44)

7^th – Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy)
54:07:12 (- minus 00:58:20)

Monster Energy Dakar SSV Class

Stage 12 FINAL SSV Results

1^st – Sara Price (Can-Am Factory Team)
00:58:53

FINAL Overall

27^th – Sara Price (Can-Am Factory Team)
138:56:45 (- minus 79:43:34)

Up next…

FIM World Rally-Raid Championship racers remain in the sands of the Middle East for Round 2 of the ’25 WRRC with the running of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Feb. 21-27. For more information, including “Live” timing and scoring, visit www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com