2025 Dakar Rally
Stage 9 – RIYADH > HARADH
Is it possible to win on the Dakar 2025 by opening the stage from the first to the last kilometre? Since today, the answer is a resounding yes. Following his stage eight victory on Monday, Luciano Benavides was the first rider out today and opened the throttle over the 357 kilometres of the special. He finished behind Adrien Van Beveren by 2’57’’ in pure racing terms but the Argentinean tasted success thanks to time bonuses of 4’51’’ for leading the way. Tuesday’s win is the 7th for KTM since the start and the Austrian constructor had not won as many stages in a single edition since 2018, a year in which it also claimed triumph in the general rankings.
Adrien Van Beveren was runner-up on Tuesday’s stage and Australia’s Daniel Sanders extended his overall lead despite finishing third, three-minutes off pace.
Tosha Schareina was off the pace due to a hefty fall at the beginning of the special and ended the day in seventh, and almost seven-minutes off the leading pace. Schareina now trails Sanders by almost 15-minutes, Van Beveren closing to within five-minutes of his Honda team-mate.
Luciano Benavides opened the entire special with the minimum of errors and earned nearly five-minutes in bonus time, putting the KTM 450 RALLY rider on course for the best Dakar Rally finish of his career.
Luciano Benavides – P1
“Today was really good! I opened the stage all day, and although I did make some small navigation mistakes, I think most people did today. I had to pay close attention to the roadbook notes and really keep my focus during the stage, but I’m really happy because I did a good job opening. I’m looking forward to the dunes tomorrow as they’re my favourite terrain to race on.”
The first Monster Energy Honda HRC rider to reach Haradh was Adrien Van Beveren. Hampered by some difficult navigation notes early on across the fast, stony tracks which caused a couple of about turns, the Frenchman kept calm and rode to the finish, gaining six minutes on team-mate Tosha Schareina overall.
Adrien Van Beveren – P2
“It was again a very tough day with the navigation, the rough terrain had a lot of stones and we rode through some really destroyed places, canyons and riverbeds. I made some small mistakes in the navigation as I couldn’t find the piste, then I went off track in the stones and lost quite a bit of time. I then saw Luciano was on the gas so I had to push as well and I only caught him at the very end, but overall it was a good solid day. There are still many kilometres to go so I will give my best to the end.”
Daniel Sanders showcased his signature speed on stage nine, setting the fastest time at the first checkpoint and maintaining his lead until past the halfway mark. However, the complex navigation after the first refuelling point led to a few small errors that proved costly for Sanders in the tightly contested special. Despite this, Daniel secured an impressive third-place finish, positioning him well for tomorrow’s stage in the demanding dunes of the Empty Quarter.
Daniel Sanders – P3
“I had a really good start, then after the first refueling point I struggled to see any tracks and the navigation was tough, so I got lost a few times. I lost a bit of time there, which is disappointing but I’m ready to rest and do it all again tomorrow. You have to be really smart about how you ride the Dakar, so winning the first stages really helped mentally as it boosted my confidence. I feel good now and ready to keep it going in the last few days.”
The American duo of Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes both rode a solid stage finishing in fourth and fifth respectively in an area that they’ve experienced before as Haradh has featured three times on previous Dakar routes. Unchanged in the overall standings to remain fifth and sixth, Brabec remains optimistic about the Empty Quarter challenge that awaits from tomorrow onwards where surprises could be sprung as the days count down.
Ricky Brabec – P4
“Today was good, it was kind of a fast special and there wasn’t much to do today, it was more of a transfer day. I caught my teammate Tosha early on after his crash and we rode together the whole day. I’m happy with the ride and how things are going. There’s only a couple of days left to go, so I think for tomorrow we’re in a good position to gauge what’s going to happen and then go full attack on stage eleven. Nothing’s impossible and nothing’s out of sight. We just have to keep working at it.”
Skyler Howes – P5
“Stage nine was probably one of the fastest ones of the whole rally, we were on the speed limiter at 160km/h for a lot of the day through the fast tracks. There was a lot of gravel, some big ditches and also some tricky navigation. Out in the zone they bulldozed these new roads, I think they’re out to look for oil or something and there’s a lot of the tracks out there, so it was very easy to get tripped up and think you were on a good track and that’s what happened to me after the refuelling. I had a really good stage going in the first half, clipping some minutes off and then I just kind of got stuck in this boulder like field, so I lost a couple of minutes there, but overall I had a pretty good stage, it was really fast and kind of my style. We’ve done this stage probably three or four times now, obviously some differences in there, but more or less the same zone, same kind of route. I’m always a fan of this one and I always seem to get caught out by this stuff, so I look forward to next time I’m in this zone when I can have a good run at it. It was a positive day in fifth, puts us in a good position to push on on a very long day in the saddle tomorrow as we head to the Empty Quarter.”
Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo took his Hero Motosports Team Rally machine to sixth, trailing Howes by just 15s and almost two-minutes clear of seventh placed Tosha Schareina.
Schareina’s plan to keep the pressure on to Daniel Sanders in the overall standings took a blow after a tumble just 20km into the stage thwarted his plans. Luckily the Spaniard was unhurt and regained his composure to push on to the end while riding alongside teammate Ricky Brabec.
Tosha Schareina – P7
“Today, I had a big crash at the beginning, more or less after 20km. I then didn’t have too much visibility with the sand and the early morning light. After that, Ricky caught up with me and we rode together until the end. I lost time but it’s part of the game. After that crash, if you are all okay and continue riding then it’s super good, so I was happy that I could do that. Now I’m going to try and enjoy my rest this afternoon and get ready for tomorrow.”
In eighth and ninth were France’s Mathieu Doveze and Spain’s Lorenzo Santolino, the latter the top Sherco for the day and now sitting just outside the overall top-10.
Fired up by his strong stage eight results and immediately getting to work, Edgar Canet posted the second-fastest time overall, and fastest in Rally2, at the 37-kilometre mark. The Spaniard maintained his class lead from start to finish and claimed a commendable eighth-place result overall. Solidifying his dominance in the Rally2 category, Edgar now leads by an impressive one hour and 40 minutes in the class standings, and lies comfortably in eighth overall.
Edgar Canet – P10
“That was a good stage for me! The first 300 kilometres were super-fast, then the last 50 were pretty technical with tricky navigation and difficult points where I got lost for a bit. I’m staying focused for stage 10 tomorrow and I’m really excited to get into the dunes of the Empty Quarter. My goal has always been to finish, so I’m focusing on that and not too worried about the classification.”
Australia’s Toby Hederics put in another strong performance in 13th just over 18m off leading pace, and solidified his 19th placing in the overall, despite losing a little time.
Next – Stage 10
There are just three stages remaining on Dakar 2025 with tomorrow’s test being a mere 116km included in road sections of 520km, however the intensity level will remain high as it will be in the depths of the Empty Quarter where the biggest and most difficult dunes will be. The views from the peak of the dunes will be stunning but the soft sand in the dips in between will be the trickiest part that the organisers have set to potentially catch riders out.
2025 Dakar Rally Stage Nine Results
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Bike | Time | P |
| 1 | Luciano Benavides | ARG | KTM | 3h 15′ 38” | |
| 2 | Adrien Van Beveren | FRA | HONDA | 1’54” | |
| 3 | Daniel Sanders | AUS | KTM | 3’04” | |
| 4 | Ricky Brabec | USA | HONDA | 3’39” | |
| 5 | Skyler Howes | USA | HONDA | 4’40” | |
| 6 | Jose Ignacio Cornejo | CHL | HERO | 4’55” | |
| 7 | Tosha Schareina | ESP | HONDA | 6’46” | |
| 8 | Mathieu Doveze | FRA | KTM | 12’18” | |
| 9 | Lorenzo Santolino | ESP | SHERCO | 14’45” | |
| 10 | Edgar Canet | ESP | KTM | 15’38” | 5m |
| 11 | Romain Dumontier | FRA | HONDA | 17’15” | |
| 12 | Emanuel Gyenes | ROU | KTM | 17’36” | |
| 13 | Toby Hederics | AUS | KTM | 18’22” | |
| 14 | Benjamin Melot | FRA | KTM | 18’33” | 2m |
| 15 | Stefan Svitko | SVK | KTM | 18’42” |
2025 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage Nine
| Pos | Rider | Time | P. |
| 1 | Daniel Sanders | 47h45’34” | 1m |
| 2 | Tosha Schareina | +14’45” | |
| 3 | Adrien Van Beveren | +20’21” | 2m |
| 4 | Luciano Benavides | +27’44” | 2m |
| 5 | Ricky Brabec | +31’31” | |
| 6 | Skyler Howes | +38’39” | |
| 7 | Jose Ignacio Cornejo | +55’23” | 2m |
| 8 | Edgar Canet | +1h33’36” | 11m |
| 9 | Tobias Ebster | +2h11’41” | |
| 10 | Stefan Svitko | +2h13’19” | 1m |
| 11 | Lorenzo Santolino | +2h48’47” | 01m |
| 12 | Rui Gonçalves | +2h50’50” | 25m |
| 13 | Romain Dumontier | +2h53’06” | 2m |
| 14 | Neels Theric | +3h17’01” | 15m |
| 15 | Toni Mulec | +3h24’05” | 24m |
| 16 | Dusan Drdaj | +3h38’12” | 10s |
| 17 | Michael Docherty | +3h41’57” | 30m |
| 18 | Konrad Dabrowski | +3h46’26” | 6m |
| 19 | Toby Hederics | +4h10’24” | 11m |
| 20 | Emanuel Gyenes | +4h50’27” | 17m |
Monster Energy Honda HRC Stage 8 & 9 Recap
2025 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule
| 2025 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule2025 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule | ||||
| Stae | Date | Start/Finish | Total | Special |
| S10 | Jan 15 | Haradh > Shubaytah | 640km | 120km |
| S11 | Jan 16 | Shubaytah > Shubaytah | 507km | 275km |
| S12 | Jan 17 | Shubaytah > Shubaytah | 131km | 61km |
