Monster Energy/Honda HRC’s Crivilin wins Rallye du Maroc Rally2 Prologue stage, teammate Brabec 3rd in RallyGP

With a virtual three-way tie in the Rally2 class at the finish in the opening Prologue stage of the 2026 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship’s fourth round, Rally OLA Energy du Maroc, Monster Energy’s Bruno Crivilin (Honda HRC Rally), Hero Motosports, powered by Monster Energy’s Michael Docherty and overall W2RC Rally2 class points leader, Martim Ventura (Honda HRC Rally), all finished, respectively, within one second of each other to set the top portion of the all-important starting grid for Tuesday’s opening Stage 1 of the Rally du Maroc.

Monday’s quick hitting 18 km timed Special and 158 km Liaison opened and closed in Morocco’s coastal town of Agadir. Tuesday’s Stage 1 kickstarts the four stage competition through Oct. 3, featuring 636 km in Liaison travel with 268 km timed Special sections, running from Agadir to Zagora, and moving the entire FIM/FIA rally caravan from its coastal opening bivouac and into the heart of the Moroccan desert.

“The Prologue was pretty nice. I liked this stage,” said Crivilin, who won with a  time of 11:30.1. “Short, but fast. Some parts rocks and some parts sand. The bike (Honda’s revolutionary general consumer available CRF450RX Rally) is working really well and will be working well for the big stage tomorrow. It was nice to start this race with the Prologue win.”

Added Ventura: “I was happy with how things went, but I think I can do better. I did a mistake and caught a lot of dust from the guy in front of me. But yeah, it was good. A good start. The bike was feeling good and we enter the desert tomorrow in the Zagora area. Should be a fun week. I’m happy, so let’s go!”

Also in the Rally2 top five was Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s Preston Campbell in 4th position, just six seconds of Crivilin’s winning Prologue time.

In the premier RallyGP class Monster Energy was led by two-time Dakar Rally champion Ricky Brabec (Honda HRC Rally), who clocked a ‘Make-A-Wish’ time of 11:11 for the 3rd place Prologue finish – 13 seconds back of Prologue winner Daniel Sanders (KTM).

Said Brabec: “Prologue was good. 17 kilometers, but a little bit tricky with, sometimes, three to four (navigational) notes per kilometer. Quick cornering, and you had to make sure you got into the corner deep enough to validate them. Overall, the feeling’s good. Went a little bit far in a couple corners and ended up in the bushes, but that’s all part Prologue. You risk a lot just for the start positions. Good to shake the monkey off our back and set the tone for the rally.”
 

Rounding out the top three Prologue scorers for Monster Energy were Honda HRC Rally’s Tosha Schareina in 5th position, 32 seconds back of Sanders, and teammate Adrien Van Beveren in 6th position, four seconds back of Schareina. 

Notes & Quotes

• Schareina is in prime position with his opportunity to overtake Sanders for the championship points lead. Schareina, with 64 points on the season (to Sanders’ 67), enters the historic Moroccan contest as the defending champion.
• “It (Prologue) was not so good for me. The route was a little bit tricky and the terrain was a little bit destroyed. But, it was the same for everyone. So no excuses. It’s just the beginning. Just the Prologue. We’ll go for real tomorrow.” - Schareina
• “I think we could go without the Prologue, maybe. The cars have a good idea with that and it could be transferred over to the bikes.” – Brabec on the FIA (cars) doing away with the Prologue round, and how the FIM (bikes) might consider doing the same.
• “Prologue was good. Guys in front of me were really fast. I messed up the last (navigational) note. Kind of searched for the (way) point when I already had it. Lost some seconds there. But anyway, I did my best and the bike was amazing. Looking forward to the desert race tomorrow.” – Van Beveren
• “Stoked to be back here in Morocco for my second Rally du Maroc. Feel much more comfortable. Nice to get some more training in during the summer. Happy on the result today and a good start to the week. – W2RC No. 3 overall Rally2 series points competitor Campbell
• Good to see Skyler Howes on Monday’s Prologue graphic (9th) with his new team, ZXMoto/Joyride Rally Team. The still Monster Energy-backed Howes would clock a respectable 12:12.9 on the brand new Chinese rally bike venture.
• The aforementioned, limited edition/factory built Honda HRC CRF450RX Rally race machine was developed by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) and Red Moto. Only 50 bikes are produced in the calendar year and are highly sought after (if no all spoken for) prior to the start of the W2RC race season. Cost of the out-of-the-crate race bike is €31,140 ($40 to $45K U.S.)
• The fourth round of the 2026 W2RC season, Rallye du Maroc runs from the coast of the Atlantic ocean through the center of the Saharan dunes of Zagora. The historic race began way back in 1982 with the Paris-Agadir – the first rally raid to run in Morocco. In 1983 the race became known as the “Atlas Rally,” and was the premier event on the rally raid calendar through the end of the 1990s.
   

Monster Energy Rallye du Maroc Prologue results

RallyGP
3rd – Brabec (Honda), 11:11.0 (+ 00:13)
5th – Schareina (Honda), 11:30.3 (+ 00:32)
6th – Van Beveren (Honda), 11:34.2 (+ 00:36)
8th – “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero), 12:07.2 (+ 01:09)
9th – Howes (ZXMoto), 12:12.9 (+ 01:14)

Rally2
1st – Crivilin (Honda), 11:30.1
2nd – Docherty (Hero), 11:30.7 (+ 00:00.6)
3rd – Ventura (Honda), 11:31.3 (+ 00:01)
4th – Campbell (Honda), 11:36.6 (+ 00:06)
 

2026 W2RC overall points (through 3 of 5 rounds)

RallyGP class
2nd – Tosha Schareina (Monster/Honda), 64 points
4th – Ricky Brabec (Monster/Honda), 54 points
5th – Adrien Van Beveren (Monster/Honda), 41 points
6th – Skyler Howes (Monster/Honda & ZX Moto), 64 points
8th – Ross Branch (Hero/Monster), 31 points
9th – Nacho Cornejo (Hero/Monster), 21 points

Rally2 class
1st – Martim Ventura (Monster/Honda), 69 points
3rd – Preston Campbell (Monster/Honda), 52 points
6th – Bruno Crivilin (Monster/Honda), 20 points

Up now… 

Stage 1 of the 2026 W2RC Rally OLA Energy du Maroc runs 636 km, with 268 km timed Special sections, from Agadir to Zagora, moving the entire rally caravan from the coastal opening bivouac and into the heart of the Moroccan desert.