The fifth and final Stage went
all Sanders' way. Schareina,
opening the Stage, took an
early lead, but Daniel was just
seconds behind. By the halfway
point, Sanders had begun to
open up an advantage and car
-
ried that to the line. With only the
short
spectator Stage remaining,
Sanders maintained a strong
pace to the checkered flag, se-
curing his 29th W2RC Stage win
and
consecutive overall victories
at the Portuguese event, follow-
ing his 2025 triumph.
I'm
super happy to get the
win here in Portugal," Sanders
said. "Tosha was pushing me the
whole way in what was a tough
race with slippery, demand
-
ing conditions. It feels great to
return to
winning form after the
injury at Dakar. Delivering this
result here at Rally-Raid Portugal
was important, not just for my
confidence, but for the whole
team. Although I was able to
complete the Dakar, we lost a
fair few points, so to get things
back on track here gives us a
big boost as we fight for back-
to-back championships, which is
the ultimate goal this season."
"I'm happy with my riding,"
Schareina said. "It was a good
battle with Daniel to the end.
We did everything we could on
this last Stage, and I'm happy
for the second, happy for
the team, we did a good
job. Now we will focus on
Argentina."
Rounding out the po
-
dium was another Monster
Energy
Honda rider Adrien
Van Beveren. "I'm happy
to finish on the podium
in Portugal," Van Beveren
said. "Six months ago, I fin
-
ished this race over a cliff
and
in the hospital, so I'm
happy to be back on the
podium. I've enjoyed my
riding here a lot; it's always
a special race because it's
technical. Daniel and To
-
sha were fast, but we were
in the fight."
Other notables were Dakar
standouts Luciano Benavides
(+27:47) and Ricky Brabec
(+41:28), who struggled in the
Enduro-like conditions and
were never a factor for the win,
instead settling for ninth and
14th, respectively, in the Ral
-
lyGP overall, with the top Hero
MotoSports
rider, Ross Branch
(+25:38), finishing seventh.
Honda rider Bruno Santos was
fifth overall and won the Rally2
division.
CN
OVERALL (Top 10)
1. Daniel Sanders (KTM) 11:03:53
2. Tosha Schareina (Hon) +1:56
3. Adrien Van Beveren (Hon) +8:25
4. Edgar Canet (KTM) +20:44
5. Bruno Santos (Hus) +20:46
6. Martim Ventura (Hon) +21:50
7. Ross Branch (Her) +25:38
8. Neels Theric (Kov) +26:43
9. Luciano Benavides (KTM) +27:47
10. Skyler Howes (Hon) +34:18
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 12 MARCH 24, 2026 P45
Runner-up Tosha Schareina kept
Sanders honest all week.
Adrien Van Beveren made it a Honda 2-3.
