Tosha Schareina turns it back around on Stage 3, the first part of the marathon stage, claiming the day’s win and regaining the rally lead.

We had gotten used to the familiar see-saw battle of daily results at past rallies, but Dakar 2025 was an exception, with Daniel Sanders holding firm at the front. However, that back-and-forth dynamic has returned in full force at Round 2 of the World Rally-Raid Championship, where KTM’s Sanders and Honda’s Schareina continue to trade stage wins and the overall lead.

The Spaniard has now taken victories in the prologue, plus Stages 1 and 3, in what is shaping up to be a tightly contested battle—just 2′53″ separates the top four riders overall.

Stage 3 of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge saw competitors tackle a 388 km journey (including 237 km of timed racing) from Mezaira’a to the Marathon Camp, deep in the Emirati desert. Riders are spending the night there in tents, without their service crews.

addc-stage-three-van-beveren

Toshattack Strikes Back

Yesterday, Daniel Sanders staged a dramatic comeback, erasing a six-minute deficit to take a two-minute overall lead over Schareina.

Twenty-four hours later, the Australian led through the dunes, while the Spaniard, starting from P7, made full use of his rivals’ tracks to push flat-out towards the Marathon Camp. His efforts paid off, finishing 2′21″ ahead of Luciano Benavides. KTM’s Benavides edged out Ricky Brabec, who took third at 2′36″, followed by Adrien Van Beveren at 3′18″ and Skyler Howes at 3′40″.

addc-stage-three-schareina

“It was pretty good,” explains Schareina, “from the beginning I noticed it was faster than yesterday. We had a mission to attack because we started behind the other riders, so I tried to push from the start. Unfortunately, until the refuelling I had a problem with the tablet, I couldn’t change the notes so I was given some time back. I tried to push again and I’m happy to have won the stage. Tomorrow, we have that difficult mission again to open the stage.”

Sanders, despite leading from start to finish on the ground, lost 4′08″ to Schareina. That means the Spaniard is back in control with a 1′25″ lead—but tomorrow, the tables will turn, as he faces the challenge of opening the road for the 300 km special stage. Meanwhile, Benavides and Brabec remain well within striking distance, just 2′03″ and 2′53″ behind, respectively.

Rally 2: Docherty Makes It Four in a Row

Michael Docherty continues his flawless run, securing his fourth consecutive stage win and despite gettign a two minute speeding penalty. The South African put 4′27″ into Konrad Dąbrowski, extending his overall lead to 20′18″ over the Polish rider.

Tobias Ebster, third at 7′58″ behind his teammate Docherty, climbs back onto the class podium. The Austrian now sits 37′17″ behind the leader and holds a 2′54″ advantage over Ruy Barbosa (Xraids Experience) in fourth place.

Stage 3 Results:

addc_2025_stage_3_results_1addc_2025_stage_3_results_2

Overall classification should arrive after the marathon stage. However, provisionally the top 10 is as follows:

  1. Tosha Schareina Honda          09:21.43
  2. Daniel Sanders KTM                09:23.08 +01:25
  3. Luciano Benavides KTM          09:23.46 + 02:03
  4. Ricky Brabec Honda                09:24.36 +02:53
  5. Jose Cornejo Hero                   09:27:53 + 06:10
  6. Adrien Van Beveren Honda    09:28:52 + 07:09
  7. Skyler Howes Honda               09:31:54 + 10:11
  8. Michael Docherty SRG            09:39:17 + 17:34
  9. Konrad Dabrowski DUUST      09:59:35 + 37:52
  10. Tobias Ebster SRG                   10:16:34 + 54:51

 

Photo Credit: