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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1541867
Honda Announces Rally Team T he Monster Energy Honda HRC Team offi- cially announced its lineup for the 2026 World Rally-Raid Championship, which gets underway in January with the Dakar Rally. The team will then focus on the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, the Desafio Ruta 40 (Argentina), the Rallye du Maroc and finally the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The team is made up of former Dakar winner Ricky Brabec, Spaniard Tosha Schareina, Adrien Van Beveren and American Skyler Howes, who was injured for much of 2025. They will compete on the Honda CRF450 Rally. Ruben Faria, the team's general manager, said, "We are very close to the Dakar, and we are all eager to tackle the most important race of the year. We finished on a high note in Morocco with Tosha's victory, and that gives us a lot of motiva - tion. The riders are training physically and mentally for a very tough Dakar. We start in Yanbu and finish 13 days later in Yanbu. This year we are not going to the Empty Quarter, but it will still be a tough race because there are many kilometers and anything can hap - pen. We are making the final preparations and looking forward to a new Dakar with great enthusiasm." "The next season means a lot," Brabec said. "We have worked hard this year, going in the right direction after the Dakar. At the beginning of the year, I struggled a lot to find comfort, and every race we made correct improve - ments to be better for the 2026 season. "I'm excited to head to my 11th Dakar with HRC, and I hope to do the job well enough to make it a victory for HRC and the team. Every rider is healthy, and the team is looking strong for the start of the 2026 season. "For me personally, I feel like this year I have learned a lot about man and machine, especially rushing an injury in the Morocco rally in 2024 that held me back in the Dakar 2025. I had lost a ton of training time and preparation for this one just try - ing to recover well enough to get cleared and able to race. This season we remained healthy and are looking better than ever for the next season, and I'm happy to spend it with Monster Energy Honda HRC. They don't give up, and neither do we." CN WIND IN THE P48 Monster Energy Honda HRC | 2026 W2RC Preview The Monster Energy Honda HRC Rally Team officially named its 2026 roster.