Two consecutive flashes of brilliance from a RallyGP newcomer marked the start of the 48th edition of the Dakar, as Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) opened up his account at the elite level with victories in the prologue and stage 1.
However, a wrecked tyre in the marathon-refuge stage relegated the Spaniard to more than ten hours down in the overall. The top 4 of the 2025 season in the RallyGP class have never fallen lower than sixth. Daniel Sanders and Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda HRC) have been on the overall podium every day since the show hit the road in Yanbu and naturally hold the top spots in Riyadh. The reigning world champion is a mere 45 seconds ahead of the American.
"Chucky" would have reached the rest day with a substantially wider margin if he had not been handed down a 6-minute penalty for speeding at the beginning of stage 6. Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC) also made a blunder in the opening week. Much like the Australian, the Spaniard had barely had time to hop onto his saddle when he messed up, forgetting to go through the flags marking the exit from the bivouac-refuge. This oversight cost him 10 minutes and left him just outside the podium (+11′56″).
Luciano Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is slotted ahead of him (+10′15″). As it stands, KTM and Honda have each played two of their ace cards.
Nacho Cornejo has placed his Hero in fifth place, about half an hour off the pace. His wingman Ross Branch got off to a solid start, but he had to slow down to avoid burning through his rear foam before the finish line of the marathon stage. The Motswana is now over an hour and a half from the lead.
Looking at the stats, Sanders has added to his existing record of stage victories, bringing his W2RC tally to 25. Schareina has picked up two and now has 21 to his name. Benavides (16) and Brabec (12) have added one apiece.
RALLY2: CAMPBELL STEPS OUT OF THE SHADOW OF HIS FATHER
The Rally2 title holder, Edgar Canet, has moved up to the premier division, clearing the way for his former rivals. Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Factory Rally) and Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports) have quit the race due to injury.
Neels Theric (Kove Factory Racing) has won two stages, but only after his overall dreams went up in smoke as he literally pushed his motorbike to the finish line of the prologue. Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM) seemed destined to become the new sheriff in town after claiming four stage wins (32 in total, a record in Rally2), but a broken rim forced the South African to sit out the second day of the marathon stage. Martim Ventura (Monster Energy Honda HRC), the only rider close to his level (one stage win), had earlier lost buckets of time repairing his motorbike after hitting a stone. His teammate and fellow Dakar rookie Preston Campbell, the son of the US Baja legend Johnny Campbell, steered clear of trouble and now holds the Rally2 lead ahead of the regulars Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM, +16′42″) and Konrad Dąbrowski (Duust Rally, +23′29″).