Spaniard Tosha Schareina knew that stage 11 of the Dakar Rally was an all or nothing race. His noble effort with a broken left collarbone was rewarded with victory in the penultimate special of the 2025 edition, but the glory will go to him if there is no disaster on the last day, for KTM. The 29-year-old Valencian Honda rider gritted his teeth but was literally short of sand after fog at dawn and the subsequent threat of dusk forced the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) to delay the start time and shorten the route through the Rub al Khali desert. In this era of rallying, safety comes before the rest.
“All the pilots except two have agreed. It is a decision that could possibly harm me, but we have made it for safety and in any case it is no excuse,” declared Schareina, who obtained his second partial victory in the rally after opening his score in the prologue stage of 2024. “It is still I don’t give up. Tomorrow we will go out all the same, but realistically it will be very difficult. A second position is not bad at all, although when we leave home we all want to win. Three years ago we were fighting to come and run and now we are fighting for victory,” said the Valencian.
Of the more than 300 kilometers planned under the stopwatch this Thursday, only 152 could be competed, enough for the Spanish candidate to shave more than seven minutes off the leader Sanders with a time of 2h12m04s at the improvised finish line at the first refueling point. This abrupt end to the adventure in the sea of dunes prevented him from continuing to improve the time, and leaves the Valencian nine minutes away from the overall victory with 61 kilometers left to finish the rally. The twelfth stage this Friday, with a group start as in the times of Africa and the Pink Lake, will be more television than anything else. Only a mechanical problem or a calamitous failure will change the standings between now and the finish line in Shubaytah. In the Dakar, yes, you never know.
“It is a shame that bad weather has interfered with this outcome, but it is the decision we have made together and probably the correct one,” said Sanders, 30 years old. “After waiting more than three hours at the start, today was a day to survive, to take it easy and not make mistakes. Tomorrow it will be nice to all go out together and I think that will be enough so that no one can make a difference.” The Australian has dominated from start to finish the more than 5,000 kilometers of route these two weeks, taking the prologue stage and four of the 11 special stages held on his way to his first Dakar title.
the Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi won the game with his South African teammate at Toyota, Henk Lategan, and will start tomorrow with more than six minutes to spare to finally become a prophet in his homeland. If he succeeds, this billionaire heir to a banking empire will be the first Saudi driver to lift the prestigious ‘Touareg’. The four-wheeled stage was won by Mattias Ekstrom (Ford), with a time of 4h19m27s, enough to maintain his podium position for the American brand ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah, frustrated in his debut with Dacia.
