Honda tandem of Van Beveren (2nd) & Howes (3rd) make the WRRC SASR Stage 4 podium

Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s Adrien Van Beveren stepped up with his best stage yet on the inaugural South Africa Safari Rally, Round 3 of the 2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship, racing his Honda CRF450 Rally to a strong 2^nd place finish on the penultimate Stage 4 – the longest stage of the SASR at nearly 700 km - of the five-stage rally competition run in and round Sun City, South Africa.

With the 2^nd place effort, just 53 seconds off the pace of Stage 4 winner Daniel Sanders (KTM), Van Beveren was able to rally past Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally teammate Ricky Brabec (4^th in Stage 4) and into the 3^rd place overall podium position with one stage remaining on Saturday.

WATCH STAGE 4 HIGHLIGHTS HERE!

“I had a good day. Really enjoyed my riding today,” said Van Beveren. “There were some confusing notes in the roadbook, at KM 24, took us to a gate that was not open. We will explain that to the organizer, but it is never easy to organize a race. Really good job overall to prepare us with good terrain. Other than that, I felt good about the rest of the day, my navigation, and let’s look to push again tomorrow.”

Joining Van Beveren on the podium in 3^rd place on Stage 4 was his Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally teammate Skyler Howes. Howes, with his first podium finish of the South Africa Safari Rally, maintained his stronghold on a top five (5^th) overall position in the standings.

“700 kilometers today, long day with the butt in the seat,” said Howes. “Best day of the rally for me… lot of turns, twisty, tricky navigation. (I) finally put it all together and had a good day. Really positive. Looking forward to the final day tomorrow.”

For Brabec, a couple mistakes on Stage 4 would cost him his overall 3^rd place position in the standings, handing that over to teammate Van Beveren.

“Things are looking pretty good, but times are tight,” said Brabec, who brought ‘er home in 4^th on the day. “Will make a push tomorrow. Morning was really fun. I hit the ground twice, which was unfortunate. Bike’s in good shape, but it took some time picking myself up. Tomorrow we’ll make a good push and get to the end of this thing.”

Rounding out the top ten on Stage 4 for Monster Energy was Ross Branch (Hero Motosports), with a good 5^th place run, along with Hero’s Jose “Nacho” Cornejo in 8^th on the day.

In RallyGP 2 class racing, Tobias Ebster (Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy) continued his overall podium run in the class with a 2^nd place finish on Stage 4. Ebster in solidly in 2^nd place in the overall standings with one round remaining, seven minutes out front of 3^rd place racer Michael Docherty (KTM).

“Definitely a long day. Almost 700 kilometers,” said Ebster. “I had a really good feeling on the bike, made almost no navigational mistakes. Caught up to the guys in front of me, but had a small crash at the end. But nothing serious. It only cost me 15 to 20 seconds. Looking forward to the last day and let’s bring it home tomorrow.”

Stage 4 Notes:

• The final SASR Stage 5, a Sun City to Sun City short loops totaling 216 km (118 km Special + 98 km Liaison) will be made up of mostly what race officials refer to as “hard pack cotton soil.” The racing surface, while very hard (when dry), can also be very slick with morning dew and/or rainfall. Several river crossings and gravel tracks also await the racers on Saturday, making for a very picturesque finish to the inaugural South Africa Safari Rally.
• “Rode with Ricky (Brabec) a lot of the day. We had a lot of fun together. South African Rally really impressed me. Looking forward to the last day tomorrow.” - Branch
• 25 seconds. That’s all that separates Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally teammates Van Beveren and Brabec for the third and final overall RallyGP class podium position. Van Beveren, aided by a couple Brabec crashes early on in Stage 4, also has the advantage of the final Stage 5 being the shortest – and easiest – of all the SASR stages.
• “I wasn’t able to deliver the performance I had hoped for,” said Cornejo of Stage 4. “But that’s racing. I comes with its ups and downs. The plan now is to reset mentally and come back strong tomorrow to finish the rally on a positive note.”
• The Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally team is still reeling a bit from the loss of No. 1 WRRC racer this season (currently 2^nd overall in the RallyGP standings behind Sanders), Tosha Schareina. “It’s a shame he could not start… had some checks at the hospital and it (hand) is OK. But it was decided that he should not start as he was in some pain,” said Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally team manager Ruben Faria.
• “The stakes are so high at this point that nobody’s really making mistakes,” said Ebster, adding that the top seven RallyGP 2 racers were separated by just around four minutes.

WRRC South Africa Safari Rally Results

Stage 4 (Place/Name/Team/Time)

2^nd – Van Beveren (Hero/Monster Energy), + 0:53

3^rd – Howes (Monster Energy/Honda), + 1:49

4^th – Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda), + 2:23

5^th – Branch (Hero/Monster Energy), + 3:23

8^th – Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy), + 8:26

South Africa Safari Rally Overall Standings RallyGP class

3^rd  – Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda), + 10:17

4^th – Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda), + 10:42

5^th – Howes (Monster Energy/Honda), + 31:21

7^th – Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy), + 4:38

South Africa Safari Rally Overall Standings RallyGP 2 class

2^nd – Ebster (Hero/Monster Energy), + 20:11

Monster Energy WRRC Motorcycle GP class standings (after Dakar & Abu Dhabi)

Place/Name/Team

2^nd – Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda), 46 points        

3^rd – Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda), 37 points             

4^th – Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda), 35 points

6^th – Howes (Monster Energy/Honda), 24 points

6^th – Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy), 24 points

2025 FIM World Rally-Raid GP2 class standings 

1^st – Tobias Ebster (Hero/Monster Energy), 46 points

Up now…

The FIM World Rally Raid Championship moves to South Africa for the inaugural running of the South African Safari Rally, May 18-24. For more information, including “Live” timing and scoring, visit www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com