Monster Energy Honda HRC is ready to unleash its full force on the 2026 Dakar Rally, arriving in Saudi Arabia to tackle the 48th edition of the world’s most gruelling motorsport event. After a strong campaign in the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), the team enters Dakar with momentum, confidence and renewed determination to fight for overall victory aboard their Honda CRF450 RALLY machines.
Two-time Dakar champion Ricky Brabec leads the charge. With ten Dakar campaigns under his belt and a stellar 2025 season, which included a runner-up finish at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and two third-place podiums at the South African Safari Rally and Rallye du Maroc, Brabec arrives ready to confront the punishing Saudi terrain head-on.
Fellow American Skyler Howes, is targeting a return to the Dakar podium after securing third place in 2023. Now back to full fitness following his 2024 Vegas to Reno injury, which disrupted his World Rally-Raid Championship campaign this year, Howes heads into the rally encouraged by his fifth-place finish at the inaugural South African Safari Rally and is eager to take on the fresh challenges awaiting in Saudi Arabia.
French sand specialist Adrien Van Beveren returns from injuries sustained at Rally-Raid Portugal and wrist surgery stronger than ever. Following a commanding performance at Rallye du Maroc, where he narrowly missed out on a podium spot and with two consecutive third-place Dakar finishes in his pocket, Van Beveren is laser-focused on finally claiming the dream victory that has eluded him as he lines up for his eleventh Dakar.
Spain’s Tosha Schareina delivered a remarkable runner-up finish at this year’s Dakar despite riding much of the event with a collarbone injury, an achievement that underscored his grit and potential. His victory at Rallye du Maroc secured second in the World Rally-Raid Championship standings and although he is the least experienced of the Monster Energy Honda HRC lineup, he is undeniably a rising threat over the 8,000 km they will all face.
The 2026 Dakar Rally kicks off on 3rd January in Yanbu, a coastal city on Saudi Arabia’s western edge where the Red Sea meets endless desert horizons. Riders will tackle a punishing prologue before embarking on thirteen gruelling stages that wind through towering sand dunes, rocky wadis and vast barren plains. Two marathon stages will push both man and machine to their absolute limits, with no team assistance for riders as they navigate the blistering heat by day and cooler nights, with only basic equipment and food rations.
This epic loop across Saudi Arabia’s diverse and unforgiving terrain will test endurance, skill and strategy at every turn, culminating back in Yanbu where the rally will close another unforgettable chapter in the history of the world’s most legendary motorsport adventure.
Ruben Faria – General Manager:
“The Dakar Rally, the most important race of the year is here. Monster Energy Honda HRC is ready to start as we’ve put a lot of work into the second part of the 2025 season. Ricky finished the Rallye du Maroc in a really good spot, Tosha won it and Adrien, who was coming back from injury, did a really good race as day by day he got better and better. Skyler crashed, but he’s already recovered and his training has gone well ahead of the Dakar, so we have all four riders in really good shape.
The 2026 race looks nice but will again be really tough. In the first week we have a marathon stage, so the riders won’t have assistance and they’ll need to sleep in tents far from cities. The rest day is in Riyadh, like it was some years ago. I think the first week’s terrain will have more stones, riverbeds and will be technical at the same time, so the riders will need to look after their bikes and not crash on these sorts of stages. The second week is more open desert and again there will be a marathon stage. The riders and team are ready,everybody is happy and we want to get this Dakar started on 3rd January. We need to be careful day by day, we cannot push too much on the first stage, but my first goal is to arrive with the four riders to the rest day in a good position inside the top ten, before we can then make a plan for the second week.”
Ricky Brabec (9):
“I’m super excited to be entering another year with Monster Energy Honda HRC and going to another Dakar. It’s been a positive year learning through ups and downs since my injury during the 2024 Rallye du Maroc. This whole year has been really good, mentally I feel like we struggled in areas, although recently I feel like we have fixed a few of these. The team is looking good, healthy, fit and fast. So for the 2026 Dakar I think we have a good programme heading into this one.”
Skyler Howes (10):
“My preparation for the Dakar has been going really well. We’re in a much better place than we were as at this year’s race I was coming off a pretty serious leg injury and not much time to train and test with the team. This season, staying healthy throughout the whole year and a complete season was a major plus. I spent a lot of time with the team, testing more with the bike, getting things refined and being in a much better place for me personally, like being confortable and confident on the bike. Off the bike training, I’ve been cycling a bunch and then in the gym a lot so my physical fitness is in a much better place for me too. I’ve done rally training with Ricky and Preston, we spent a few days out in the desert doing road books and training together, which is really nice to have the other guys here, as it’s like a mini team, we can all work together and train together.
We had a really good shot this year at Dakar, I was in the top three overall for the first week and still had a good finish, but I’m heading into 2026 in a much better position, so I’m excited for that looking forward to getting this race going.”
Adrien Van Beveren (42):
“This year went well, I had some challenges though, tearing my wrist ligament just before South Africa. I raced with that injury, then I had the surgery, so I spent my summer recovering from that. I did a lot of cycling because I couldn’t ride motorcycles for almost two months. Then I rode again in August and I was fit, I was feeling good and got back to a high level quite soon. I went to Portugal, was second in the race fighting for the win and then I had a big crash. I had broken ribs, a broken scapula, a dislocated shoulder and some neck pain. But I faced this challenge and went back to Andorra for ten days of recovery, was in an hyperbaric chamber, had physio everyday and I raced in Morocco ten days later. I wasn’t yet back to full fitness but I finished fourth. I was happy about this as it was a way to turn the page and go forward after the crash. After that I just went full on with my training and focused on that to get back in the best shape. I’m super happy as I’m feeling good on the bike and strong physically. I’ve lost some kilos since this summer and I feel like I’m in my best shape ever. It’s nice to say that because I’m 34 years old, I bring experience with me having competed in 10 Dakar, soon to be 11 and I feel it’s a good moment. I can enjoy this experience but I’m still physically strong and still able to go really fast, navigate well and aim to reach the dream. Dakar is my dream, I’ve been fully dedicated to that throughout my life. It’s nice to feel in this position now where I am a really strong contender. I’ll bring all that experience with me and try to make it happen.”
Tosha Schareina (68):
“We are now in in the last straight before Dakar, the last bit of preparation. Actually we’ve spent all year training for this rally because it’s the main goal and the main race of the year and each race of the World Rally-Raid Championship is to prepare for Dakar.
We have been in Morocco for training and it’s been the last preparation for the bike as well. It’s the same bike that we won the Rallye du Maroc and I think that win was really important for us because it was the last push that we needed as motivation for Dakar, not just for me but for the mechanics and for all the team too.
In the lead up to Dakar I’ve been training, a little bit of gym, cycling, a bit of motocross, because these last weeks before this rally are just for for calm and peace and spending time with the family before spending nearly a month away in Saudi Arabia. I think it’s important to arrive there having rested before the main race and you have to try to find a good balance between training and having time off.
I’m really happy with how we have prepared heading into this Dakar and I think we have everything to get a good result in this 2026 edition.”
