more testing with the bike and make it another level better .” Fighting alongside Brabec for victory was Spaniard Tosha Schareina , who made good time but couldn ’ t catch the American . “ Today I had to go all in and I was fighting until the end as I tried to push to make up the time ”, he said . “ I got to one minute ten seconds behind Ricky in the standings but it was still not enough for the victory . I ’ m super happy for myself and the team , we did a Honda 1-2-3 and I ’ m made up for Ricky too .” The culmination of the rally was hotly contested between the American and the Spaniard with Brabec starting the stage 1 ’ 27 ” ahead in the overall standings with Tosha the first to get into the action on the 218km stage ; as the defending champion the Spaniard was going to put in a valiant effort to reclaim the spoils . He clawed back time over the early parts of the stage , cutting Brabec ’ s lead to just 22 seconds at one point , leaving the final 100km run to the line to be the focus of the entire rally as the finish came across the horizon at Cordoba .
Schareina sped across the finish line to take his second consecutive stage win of the week adding to his prologue win , but it wasn ’ t quite enough to hold off Brabec who , with a 1 ’ 12 ” gap , kept hold of the overall lead and took victory . After only contesting the jewel in the crown for the Rally Raid Dakar Rally so far this year , it means Brabec has taken two victories out of two starts in 2024 . Adrien Van Beveren completed another fourth Honda podium lockout of a Desafio Ruta 40 stage in 2024 after a consistently high performance all week which saw the Frenchman take a stage win and a third place on the final podium as he once more confirmed the speed of the Honda CRF450 RALLY . In the World Rally-Raid Championship standings , Ricky Brabec has propelled himself up to second , just nine points behind the leader Ross Branch with Adrien Van Beveren a further seven points back . Meanwhile , in the manufacturer standings , Honda are back on top as the championship battle hots up heading into the Rallye du Maroc in October .
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