Honda HRC Rally’s Brabec and Ventura win at Rallye du Maroc’s Stage 1, each taking over their class lead

Monster Energy racers topped the RallyGP and Rally2 podiums on Tuesday as the 2026 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship’s fourth round, Rally OLA Energy du Maroc, moved from the Atlantic Coast into the heart of the Sahara Desert with both Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally team members Ricky Brabec (RallyGP) and Martim Ventura (Rally2) taking overall wins on the opening stage – as well as overall class leads following the Prologue and Stage 1.

Seemingly the two-time Dakar Rally winner’s nemesis, Brabec has, for a variety of reasons, never made it higher than a 3rd place run at the du Maroc – something he’s done four times. Undaunted, Brabec stepped up and put his Honda CRF450 Rally on the top rung of the Stage 1 rostrum on Tuesday, taming the 636 km (268 km Special timed) Agadir to Zagora route with a winning time of 02:39:57, some 23 seconds ahead of current W2RC overall RallyGP points leader, Daniel Sanders (KTM). The effort also vaulted Brabec past Sanders and into the overall du Maroc lead following the Prologue and opening stage.

“Stage was good. Fast. Fast day,” said Brabec. “Spent a lot of the day in the dust, but overall it was good. We had a good mix of terrain with rock, sand and riverbed. I’m happy for the stage win… but it’d only Day 1. Let’s keep the momentum going and moving forward, keep pushing.”
 

Rounding out the Stage 1 top ten in RallyGP scoring for Monster Energy were Adrien Van Beveren (Honda HRC Rally) in 5th, Hero Motosports, powered by Monster Energy’s Ignacio “Nacho” Cornejo in 6th, Honda HRC Rally’s Tosha Schareina in 7th and Skyler Howes (ZXMoto) in 10th.

In the support Rally2 class, Ventura would make a statement with a 59-second victory over Monster Energy’s Michael Docherty (Hero), despite a couple minor hiccups. Ventura’s run to the Stage 1 win would also vault him to the front of the Rally2 leaderboard as he now tops 2nd place overall Docherty by 58 seconds.

“Good feeling on Stage 1 at the beginning, just having fun on a super nice piste that I liked a lot,” said Ventura. “At refueling I did a bit of a navigational mistake… it happens. Then I broke a bit, physically at the end. I don’t know what happened, but that cannot happen. But happy that the rhythm was there and now we build for the rest of the rally.”

Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally Rally2 class racers, led by Ventura, again swept the overall podium with Prologue winner Bruno Crivilin placing 3rd on Stage 1 and teammate Preston Campbell placing 4th.

The W2RC FIM motorcycle field at the du Maroc now moves into the sands of the Sahara, leaving behind the hard, stony tracks, dry riverbeds and into the first major dunes of the Draa Valley. Wednesday’s Stage 2 is the opening of four (4) stage loops originating in the Zagora bivouac. Sand tracks, dunes and highly technical navigation is on the menu for the Monster Energy W2RC racers and their competitors over the next four stages in the Moroccan desert.
 

Notes & Quotes
•    “Quite strong first day. It was really fast at the beginning and I took a little bit of time to get my rhythm, but I pushed as much as I could and the bike is doing good,” said Van Beveren. “Once we got off piste and into the dunes I felt I could push a little bit more. Good that I could push through the end and looking forward to tomorrow because we have a good position to start.”
•    The weather the Monster Energy racers are facing at the du Maroc is all over the place, with early morning temperatures in the mild 20-degree Celsius mark, changing to hot mid-30s Celsius in the direct desert sun during the morning and afternoon. Also a big difference in humidity from the coastal Agadir to the desert-based bivouac in Zagora.
•    Early wake-up call as well for the racers as they were up and out of the hotel at 2:30 a.m., eating breakfast at the bivouac at 3 a.m. and on the road for the opening Liaison kilometers of the stage at 4 a.m.
•    “For sure it was not a good day for me,” said Schareina, who’s currently 2nd in the overall W2RC RallyGP points chase through three (of four) rounds. “I had so many problems with the (navigational) tablet today. But I did my best even though I couldn’t find a good rhythm and result. But it’s just the first day and we have four more days, so we’ll try it again tomorrow.”
•    Brabec’s du Maroc Stage 1 win was his first stage win since Stage 12 at the Dakar Rally back in January, but it also vaulted the Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally team to the top position in an overall race for the first time since Dakar. For Ventura, his Tuesday stage win was the ninth of his career.
•    “The stage’s first 150 kilometers was so fast, but I like my bike in these conditions,” said Crivilin. “After I got into the dunes I didn’t push too much because of dangers, but I like the stage today.”
•    “First day, first stage was good. Super-fast pace all day and I enjoyed it,” said Campbell. “No complaints. Bike was working well. I felt good and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”
•    “Team spirits are good, everyone’s healthy. No mechanical issues, bikes have run great,” said Monster Energy’s Joe Parsons of the Honda HRC Rally team. “The team went to work after the stage and is doing a big prep on the bikes for tomorrow. Another good rally day and it’ll be interesting how it all unfolds over the next four days.”
 

Monster Energy Rallye du Maroc Stage 1 results
 

RallyGP
Stage 1
1st – Brabec (Honda), 02:39:57 (+ 00:23 over Sanders)
5th – Van Beveren (Honda), 02:44:52 (+ 04:55)
6th – Cornejo (Hero), 02:46:08 (+ 06:11)
7th – Schareina (Honda), 02:47:05 (+ 07:08)
10th – Howes (ZXMoto), 03:50 (+ 1:10:03)

Overall (Prologue + Stage 1)
1st – Brabec (Honda), 02:51:08 (+ 00:10 over Sanders)
5th – Van Beveren (Honda), 02:56:26 (+ 05:18)
6th – Cornejo (Hero), 02:58:15(+ 07:07)
7th – Schareina (Honda), 02:58:35 (+ 07:27)
10th – Howes (ZXMoto), 04:01:12 (+ 01:11:04)

Rally2
1st – Ventura Honda), 02:42:05
2nd – Docherty (Hero), 02:43:04 (+ 00:59)
3rd – Crivilin (Honda), 02:51:23 (+ 09:18)
4th – Campbell (Honda), 02:54:01 (+ 11:56)

Overall
1st – Ventura Honda), 02:53:36
2nd – Docherty (Hero), 02:54:34 (+ 00:58)
3rd – Crivilin (Honda), 03:02:53 (+ 09:17)
4th – Campbell (Honda), 03:05:37 (+ 12:01)
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