Monster Energy Honda HRC got its 2026 Rallye du Maroc campaign underway with the prologue, as Ricky Brabec led the Honda charge with a strong third-place finish.

Following a 74 km road section from Agadir, where the team has been based in the build-up to the rally, the riders faced a short but intense 16.7 km battle against the clock. Navigation wasn’t expected to pose the biggest challenge, but the rocky tracks demanded precision before a fast, tree-lined downhill section brought the timed action to a close. An 84 km liaison then completed the day.

Brabec, winner of the Rallye du Maroc prologue in 2025, had a tricky run as he worked to stay on top of the rapid succession of road book notes. Despite a couple of difficult moments, the American maintained a strong pace to finish third, just 13 seconds behind Daniel Sanders. The result also puts him in a useful position when it comes to choosing his place in the starting order for tomorrow’s opening stage.

Tosha Schareina, himself a two-time prologue winner in Morocco, finished fifth in Rally GP after a challenging run across the rough terrain. With the short prologue now behind him, the Spaniard will turn his attention to tomorrow and the first major test of the rally.

Adrien Van Beveren completed the Honda trio in sixth. The Frenchman felt comfortable with his pace on his Honda CRF450 RALLY, but lost valuable seconds after an error on one of the road book notes towards the end of the prologue. With both rider and bike feeling strong, his focus now shifts to the longer desert stages ahead.

There will be little time to rest, with the first full stage bringing an early start and a huge day in the saddle as the first rider is scheduled to leave the bivouac at 4am as the rally heads inland from Agadir towards Zagora.

A total of 636 km awaits, including 268 km against the clock, as the riders leave the coastal region behind and encounter the first dunes of this year’s Rallye du Maroc.

Ruben Faria - General Manager: I expected a little more and was hoping for a better result, but overall it wasn’t too bad. Ricky had a good prologue, finishing third, with Tosha fifth and Adrien sixth.
Let’s see what happens tomorrow and whether Tosha and Adrien can make up some positions. They’ll choose their starting positions later, so hopefully they can get a good place in the order.
Today was only the prologue and tomorrow the real race begins. The bikes are ready, the team is ready and we’re looking forward to getting started.

Ricky Brabec: It was a little bit tricky, with some quick notes, sometimes three or four notes per kilometre and some fast cornering. The WPPs made it a little more difficult, as you really had to make sure you got deep enough into the corner to validate them. Overall, the feeling is good. I went a little too far in a couple of corners and ended up in the bushes, but it’s all part of the prologue. You’re risking a lot just for a start position. For now, it’s good to get the monkey off our back and set the tone for the rally. Tomorrow is Stage 1 and we’ll see you guys in Zagora.

Adrien Van Beveren: I didn’t feel slow, but it looks like the guys in front were really fast. I messed up the last note, I was searching for the point when I’d already got it, so I lost a bunch of seconds there. But anyway, they were really fast up front. I gave it my best, I’m feeling good and the bike is doing amazing, so now I’m looking forward to the desert race tomorrow.

Tosha Schareina: It wasn’t so good for me. It was a little bit tricky and the terrain was quite destroyed, but it was the same for everyone, so there are no excuses. It’s just the beginning of the rally and the race really starts tomorrow. We’ll go for it and we have a good starting position to begin the battle.