Schareina, Van Beveren, Ventura & Price all score overall podiums at BP Ultimate/Portugal
Monster Energy/Honda team puts three on the box in GP (2) and Rally2 (1) overall, Price (Defender) 3rd in Stock Car class, as Round 2 of ’26 W2RC comes to a close
The 2026 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship’s (W2RC) second round – the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal – wrapped up on Sunday with four Monster Energy-backed racers ending up on the overall podium of the five-stage/five-day event covering more than 2,000 kilometers across the Iberian Peninsula between Portugal and Spain.
Battling to runner-up positions for Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally in their respective GP and Rally2 classes were, aptly, Spain’s Tosha Schareina and Portugal’s Martim Ventura. The two locals raced brilliantly in the soggy, puddle-riddled two tracks of Portugal, and carried that speed over to the drier and faster stages run over the Pyrenees Mountains and into bordering Spain. Joining Schareina on the GP class podium, in a bit of poetic justice following a bad crash in Portugal last year, was Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren in 3rd position. And in the BP Ultimate/Portugal Stock Car class, Monster Energy’s Sara Price (Defender), along with co-driver Sean Berriman, placed 2nd on Stage 5 – securing their 3rd place overall class finish on the week.
The runner-up finish for Schareina also helped his cause in the fight for the overall W2RC championship as he pulled to within four points of leader Luciano Benevides (KTM), 48-44, after two (of five) rounds of W2RC racing in 2026.
Said Schareina of his final BP Ultimate/Portugal rally stage: “I’m happy to take second place here at Portugal. Completely different than Dakar. We had rain all of the days. And yeah, happy with my riding. A really good battle with me and Daniel (Sanders, KTM) all the way until the end. We did everything this last stage. Happy for the team. We did a really good job. Now I will focus on Argentina (W2RC Round 3, May 24-29).”
Added Van Beveren: “Really happy to finish here on the podium in Portugal. Six months ago I finished this race over a cliff – and into the hospital. So yeah, I’m really happy to be back on the box, as we say. I enjoyed a lot my riding here. It’s always a special race because it’s really technical. And today (Stage 5) was good to get third. Daniel (Sanders) and Tosha were fast, but we were all in the fight. Can’t wait until Argentina now.”
Rounding out the GP class top ten scoring for Monster Energy at the BP Ultimate/Portugal rally, giving the M-claw logo helmets five of the top eight places, were Ross Branch (Hero Motosports) in a solid 5th position, followed by Honda HRC Rally’s Skyler Howes and Ricky Brabec in 7th and 8th positions, respectively.
In Rally2 class racing Ventura locked down his fourth-straight podium finish with a 3rd place run on Sunday’s Stage 5. The effort in his home country of Portugal bumped Ventura all the way up to 2nd place overall in the season Rally2 standings, just five points back (49-44) of leader Toni Mulec (KTM) following two of five rounds of W2RC racing.
Said Ventura: “Super happy, but I wanted more from this week for sure. I had some issues before the race (injuries), but I managed to do a good job. So happy but not happy. There’s more races to come and I have to keep working for more.”
Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally’s Preston Campbell would round out the Rally2 class scoring with a 7th place overall finish in Portugal. After two rounds, couple with his runner-up finish at Dakar, Campbell sits in 4th place in the season standings – tied with Portugal winner Bruno Santos (Husqvarna) with 39 points.
FIM World Rally-Raid Championship
BP Ultimate Rally-Raid, Portugal
Stage 5 GP class results
2nd - Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda)
3rd - Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda)
6th - Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda)
7th - Branch (Hero/Monster Energy)
8th – Howes (Monster Energy/Honda)
FINAL GP class overall
2nd - Schareina + 1:56
3rd - Van Beveren + 8:25
5th - Branch + 25:38
7th - Howes + 34:18
8th - Brabec + 41:28
Stage 5 Rally2 class results
3rd - Ventura (Monster Energy/Honda)
7th - Campbell (Monster Energy/Honda)
FINAL Rally2 class overall
2nd - Ventura (Monster Energy/Honda) + 1:04
7th - Campbell (Monster Energy/Honda) + 24:06
Stage 5 Stock car class results
2nd - Sara Price (Monster Energy/Defender)
FINAL Stock car class overall
3rd - Price + 1:12:25
Up next…
FIM and FIA World Rally-Raid Championship racing moves across the Atlantic to the Western Hemisphere for Round 3 – Argentina’s Desafio Ruta 40, May 24-29. For more info on W2RC, link to: www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com
