Dakar rest day halfway recap – Penalty changes revise results

2025 Dakar Rally

Rest Day Recap

After 2,559 kilometres of specials covered by the bikes riders have reached the rest day in Ha’il in the heart of Saudi Arabia. Competitors will resume racing on Saturday for the seven stages remaining before the final finishing line in Shubaytah, in the Empty Quarter.

Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has won on four occasions so far and dominates the general rankings after five stages, ahead of Monster Energy Honda HRC riders Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren.

After topping the opening prologue, the Australian went on win stages one and two, opening up a respectable advantage over his rivals. On stage three, while opening, Sanders minimised the potential loss by putting in an inspired ride from the front. Come Wednesday and stage four, he was back to his winning ways, increasing his overall lead before extending that further on Thursday. With seven stages remaining, Chucky now holds a 15-minute advantage after his speeding penalties in Stage Five were rescinded, he will be aiming to extend that lead further over the remaining seven stages.

Daniel Sanders

“The first week has been really strong and consistent for me, I’ve felt great on the bike and I’m happy with my riding and navigation. It’s definitely been really positive, and I have a healthy lead at the halfway point. Other than a few issues with my roadbook tablet, everything has gone really well and I’m having a lot of fun! I’m enjoying resting and recovering and looking forward to the second half of the race!”

Tosha Schareina, who made a premature exit from the Dakar last year, is the most prominent of Honda’s representatives, occupying 2nd in the general rankings.

World Rally Raid Champion Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) has been consistent throughout and holds down 4th position. The ‘Kalahari Ferrari’ was in third place for much of the rally before Adrien Van Beveren pushed him down a place at the end of stage 5. Van Beveren was named the winner of the fifth stage overnight after, like Sanders, he had his speeding penalties revoked, which promoted past Luciano Benavides, who had previously been credited with the stage win.

While Sanders leads the way for KTM a horde of Honda riders are keeping the pressure on. Schareina the closest in second but his Monster Energy Honda HRC team-mates Adrien Van Beveren is in third, Skyler Howes fith and Ricky Brabec in sixth. The slightest mistake from the Australian will see the Honda riders pounce.

Luciano Benavides has steadily improved his pace throughout the week, overcoming early navigation challenges to secure consistent top-10 finishes. His hard work culminated in a superb stage five runner-up result. Luciano is well-placed to continue challenging for top stage results and move up the leaderboard as the competition intensifies.

Luciano Benavides

“First week done and I’m happy to be finishing in a strong position, especially after my stage win yesterday. I feel better than ever on the bike and with my riding, navigation and skills. I think I could have used a better strategy this week as my gap to Daniel is bigger than I’d like, but it’s something I can learn from, and I am super happy for Daniel and the team. Next week will be tough, but I’m excited to get out there on Saturday after some rest today. Of course, I am still in the fight as I know I have the speed to be there, and a lot can change in a week so I’m going to keep pushing.”

Returning from injury to race the 2025 Dakar Rally, Kevin Benavides demonstrated resilience and experience throughout the opening week of the event. Despite racing at well below 100 per cent fitness, Kevin steadily improved, securing his best stage result with a 16th place finish on stage four. Unfortunately, with the physical strain proving too much for the two-time Dakar Champion, Kevin has made the difficult but brave decision to withdraw from this year’s event.

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Kevin Benavides

“The first week was definitely tough with over 30 hours of racing. I’m not in my best physical condition so it has been a fight every day, but I’m really proud to have finished the first week of the toughest rally in the world. That alone is a great achievement! It’s been frustrating as my mind knows how to race fast and stay with the top guys – I’ve proved that in previous years – my body just isn’t capable of maintaining that sort of pace at the moment. It’s because of this feeling that I have made the decision to withdraw for the rally – the risk of further injury is too great. I want to thank the team and the fans for all the support they have given, and I hope to be back racing again soon.”

Andreas Hölzl – KTM Rally Team Manager

“We are super-happy about the situation at the moment with Chucky in the lead and doing an amazing job. He’s fit, confident, and the bike is working really well, so everything has come together perfectly, including the team behind him, who are working really hard, too. Luciano is in a good position going into the second week. He is feeling comfortable on the bike and we’ll certainly do our absolute best as a team to get him up into the podium positions. Edgar has been really impressive so far. In only his first Dakar he has shown he has what it takes to be competitive with the top guys. He’s obviously leading the Rally2 category but also just inside the top-10 overall. We’ll continue to work with him over the coming week to ensure a strong finish to the event. Unfortunately, of course, we have to say that Kevin will stop now after the first week. As we know, he had a tough year with injury but has done a great job over the first week here, and it’s a testament to his strength and experience that he made it to the rest day. Kevin will stay in Saudi and will be on hand to support his brother and the whole team, which is also a massive help. The second week here at Dakar is looking tough, but we’re well prepared and motivated to carry this momentum to the finish.”

Rally 2

All the Rally 2 riders registered for a leg are automatically enrolled in the championship this year and with current title holder Bradley Cox having switched to the Rally GP class, new names are already starting to break up the hierarchy established in 2024. That of teenage Spaniard Edgar Canet has appeared the most often, as was expected. He was enrolled at the last minute by the KTM factory team and the youngest official rider in the brand’s history is emulating Sanders at the tender age of 19 years: he leads the Rally 2 rankings and has earned three stage wins on the way to Ha’il.

Edgar Canet

“That’s the first week finished! It has been really positive for me and I’m super happy to be leading Rally2 at this point. I have a great feeling with the team and the bike which has shown in my results. It has been tougher than I was expecting, especially the chrono and marathon stages where we spent over five hours on the bike. I’m really excited to see how the second week will go, and I will try to make it as good as this first one has been.”

Tobias Ebster, who has won two stages, is the only rider to have contested first place with the Spaniard in the general rankings. Michael Docherty has also won a stage, but the situation at the race’s midway point is clear: Canet leads Ebster by 16’39’’ and Docherty by 31’07’’. There are three KTM machines at the forefront, while the riders on Honda commercial models Romain Dumontier and Jacob Argubright, both tackling their first Dakar, are grouped in 4th place (49’47’’ behind) and 5th position (51’34’’).

Neels Theric on his Kove has made a noteworthy entrance to the championship behind the reds. In the new Team rankings set up to reward the Rally 2 structures, BAS World KTM Racing are already favourites thanks to Ebster and Docherty. Canet, the only Rally 2 rider in the official KTM team, is not backed up by a second team-mate and therefore cannot score points in the rankings.

2025 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage Five (Amended)

2025 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule