Tosha Schareina, a 28-year-old rider from Valencia, didn't even wait for the first stage to show her ambition and pace in her first Dakar on an official motorcycle. The pearl of Spanish off-road motorcycling could boast of victory in the prologue with the Honda, one of the favorites to face the Touareg in two weeks in Yanbu. . This is his debut as a winner in his third participation in the rally. He is here to win and he has already mentioned it in the preview, somewhat hidden behind his other five teammates, more experienced and with more stripes within the caravan.
With a time of 17:35 minutes, Schareina beat Daniel Sanders (GasGas) and Ross Branch (Hero) and beat the next official Honda, that of Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, by 24 seconds. Joan Barreda, the driver with the most active wins (29), started his new career poorly. He lost some time due to a fall without any visible consequences and crossed the finish line in fifteenth place after 1:25 minutes. Some differences that will be important for the classification and will also serve to determine the starting order for Saturday's stage between Al-Ula and Al Hanakiyah, the first special stage of the 46th edition of the rally, with 405 kilometers under the stopwatch and one more 127 Links.
Schareina, who started racing as a child, inspired by his uncle Mariano, a fan of motocross and enduro, was hesitant to follow in the footsteps of his idols on the asphalt, from Sete Gibernau to Marc Márquez. Due to his work and talent, he soon secured a place in the Enduro World Championship and achieved competitive results in the junior category. There were several moments throughout his career when he almost ran out of motorcycles, particularly when pursuing his dream in rallying. After high school, he dropped out and dedicated himself to traveling across half of Spain from track to track, practically living in the van into which he loaded the motorcycle and his belongings. The 25-year-old driver received a direct invitation to the legendary event after his victory at the Andalusia Rally in 2020. His debut on the big stage impressed as he finished 13th and was the second best rookie of the 2021 edition.
Jorge Martínez Aspar then proposed a private project for the 2022 edition, but last-minute problems with paperwork left the young promise-maker stranded. The dust of interest died down during his enforced absence, but in 2023 he reaffirmed his potential with another 13th-place finish. Former Portuguese rider Ruben Faria, runner-up in 2013 and current Honda sports director, thought long and hard about his involvement with Schareina. After much deliberation, he called him at the last minute to offer him the last place in the Japanese Red Army. After setting up a week before the Sonora Rally, the Valencian flew to Mexico and was able to test the new bike just three days before its debut. Once again he surprised everyone with a second place, his first podium in the World Rally Raid (W2RC).
His brilliant 2023, which also saw him win the Baja Aragón and the Desafío Ruta 40, another World Cup race, has confirmed him as one of the most promising young people in the competition and this Dakar could simply be his confirmation. “The ultimate goal is to fight for the win, but I know I am still in a learning process. I'm the youngest in the team and I learn a lot from my teammates. What gives me confidence and gratitude is that we are taking every step to win the Dakar one day,” he said before his trip to Saudi Arabia.
Schareina, a road and track specialist, demonstrated his speed with a solid shot. His desire, protected by the factory with the most muscle in the world on two wheels, is through the roof. His weak point is still the dunes, where he has significantly less experience than his big rivals for the crown. “The first week and the Chrono 48h marathon will be crucial,” emphasized the main protagonist of the day. “Today I felt very good on the sand, but we have to stay on the ground, the real race starts tomorrow.” He was full of joy but also conflict as he walked through the bivouac after his victory. His mother, Mara, never imagined that giving her son the motorcycle he wanted so much at the age of seven would change her son's life forever. Now, after his debut at the top of the Dakar podium, it is clear that the bet will pay off.
Carlos Sainz starts with a mistake and self-criticism
In the car category, Carlos Sainz finished this first 27-kilometer test with no impact on the standings in 47th place, 2:18 minutes behind the winner. His teammate at Audi, the Swede Mattias Ekström, took victory with a time of 16:30 minutes ahead of Seth Quintero (Toyota), a young American talent, and the Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive).
“The plan was to finish around 15th, but it didn’t work out well,” admitted Sainz upon his arrival at the German brand’s tents. “We got lost at one point and then stopped before arriving and made a mistake in the calculation. We thought we had lost less time than we really had lost, and when we wanted to add time to avoid finishing in the top ten, we were wrong. The truth is we haven’t done a good job,” he explained. Although the few minutes lost don't count, their delayed starting position in the first stage will be problematic as they have to overtake slower vehicles in the dust clouds.
Nani Roma, who returned to the Dakar after recovering from bladder cancer, finished 17th and was very happy with his feelings and the performance of the Ford, a vehicle that is basically unable to keep up with the totems of the competition. The top ten finishers of this Saturday stage in the car will choose their starting position tomorrow, giving them the first opportunity to use strategic tricks in this edition.
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