Results and rider quotes from the 2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, round two of the World Rally-Raid Championship, where Red Bull KTM’s Dakar winner Daniel Sanders secured victory after a week-long battle with Monster Honda riders Tosha Schareina and Ricky Brabec.

Stage 5 brought down the curtain on the 34th Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge after a final 364-kilometre route, including 167km against the clock. Fittingly, the race concluded in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, after six days and a total of 1917km.

The final day saw race leader Daniel Sanders begin with a 7m23s cushion over Ricky Brabec, starting in fourth, while Tosha Schareina, who had been chasing the overall lead, suffered a disastrous penultimate day, dropping over 10 minutes. The reason? He led the stage and struggled to stem the tide as the riders behind him gained ground.

The Australian Sanders faced the same challenge on the final day but managed the situation far better, limiting his losses to Brabec to just 1′36″ and securing overall victory with a 5′47″ margin. Schareina gave it his all, winning the final stage and narrowly overtaking KTM’s Luciano Benavides for the final podium place. Adrien Van Beveren was close behind, completing a tight top five.

The last rider to achieve the Dakar/ADDC double was Sam Sunderland in 2022, a season in which the British rider went on to claim the world championship title. Sanders now leads the world championship standings by 17 points over Schareina, with Brabec in third, 26 points adrift.

This victory is not only Sanders’ second of the 2025 W2RC season but also his third consecutive rally win, following triumphs at the Rallye du Maroc last October and the Dakar Rally in January. The result also turns the tables on two years ago when he lost out on the final day.

    Daniel Sanders: “This one is a really great victory to tick off as last time I was here, I lost out on the win on the final day, which was tough. I felt great all week, and it’s amazing to have won three races in a row now. I’m really enjoying riding, my KTM is running perfectly, and I can’t thank everyone in the team enough for their hard work to get us to this point.”

Honda’s Tosha Schareina played a cat-and-mouse game with Sanders all week and can take consolation in winning three stages. Despite the tactical considerations and calculations over which day was best to lead or follow, the Spaniard finished as the top HRC rider in second place.

    Tosha Schareina: “With the times so close after yesterday, I tried to push to win the stage and came away with third place overall. It was not an easy rally, as it was outside of my comfort zone in the dunes. Yesterday, I lost too much time opening the stage, but it’s part of the game, and we’ll go for it at the next race. We don’t have this kind of terrain in Spain and Europe, but if you want to be world champion, you have to be fast on all kinds of terrain, so I have to adapt and improve.”

Ricky Brabec bounced back for another podium finish, with the two-time Dakar winner confirming he is fully recovered from his broken leg last October.

    Ricky Brabec: “The final stage was good and just full gas. I’m happy to be here at the finish line and looking forward to the next round. I broke my leg in October, so at the Dakar Rally, I wasn’t exactly 100%. I’ve been doing some work since then with my knee, and now the leg feels a lot better. We made a big step in the right direction with the bike, and I’m happy with that.”

2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Final Classification (Rally GP Class):

Rally 2 – Victory at Last for Dominant Docherty

Michael Docherty had previously finished third at the Dakar and second at the Rallye du Maroc, but a W2RC Rally 2 class victory had so far eluded him. At ADDC 2025, he put that to rest with a flawless performance, winning every stage to become the first Rally 2 rider to achieve a clean sweep in a W2RC event.

Konrad Dąbrowski finished as the best of the rest but trailed over 30 minutes behind, while Tobias Ebster secured the final podium spot, narrowly ahead of rookie Ruy Barbosa (Xraids Experience), who finished fourth.

Meanwhile, Dakar 2025 winner Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed on Stage 1, injuring his elbow and ending his race prematurely.

2025 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Final Classification (Rally 2 Class):

Photo Credit: KTM Edo Bauer + Honda Racing + A.S.O. Edophoto DPPI | Irina_Petrichei