Monster Energy Honda HRC delivered a commanding performance on stage four of the 2025 Desafío Ruta 40, with Tosha Schareina leading teammates Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes to a clean sweep of the podium.

"It was good," Schariena said. "But we expected something with faster pistes. The beginning was really fast, all WRC-style pistes, then I finally caught Luciano and from the refuelling to the end I was opening and trying to push, I think we got a good gap. Daniel is a little bit far off in the overall but anything can happen. We took six minutes today, so maybe we can do something more tomorrow."

Following yesterday’s climb into the mountains, riders once again faced extreme altitude as the route headed from San Rafael back to San Juan, with sections soaring above 3,000 metres. Competitors departed the bivouac at 6am for a demanding 251 km liaison before tackling a special stage packed with freezing temperatures, deep ravines, technical trails and punishing dry riverbeds, capped off by a high-speed desert finale.

Starting third on the road, Schareina set out determined to claw back time on overall leader Daniel Sanders. The Spaniard quickly found his rhythm across the constantly changing terrain and reeled in the two riders ahead of him. Even after being pressured hard by Brabec through the latter part of the stage and taking on the difficult task of opening the route from the 210 km mark, Schareina stayed composed to secure his first stage win of this year’s rally and the 25th World Rally-Raid Championship stage victory of his career.

“Today I opened the stage without any opening bonuses,” Sanders explained. “At kilometre 31 there was a mistake in the roadbook that cost me more than three minutes. I have since gained back this time from the organisers because they acknowledged the mistake in the roadbook. Following this at kilometre 39, I missed the exit out of the river, and this cost me over six minutes, leaving me with a pretty big challenge to make up the massive gap in time. I caught the guys at the front at 170 kilometres, and from there until the finish line, I was in the dust. Tomorrow I start in P4 with a 10-minute overall lead. Super excited to start the day tomorrow and to have some fun on our last day here in Argentina!"

It was a crucial result in the overall standings too, with Schareina cutting Sanders’ lead in half. Just 7’16” now separates the pair heading into the final stage.

Brabec also delivered an impressive ride after dropping off the overall podium yesterday. Still recovering from illness, the American pushed Schareina all the way, trailing by only 14 seconds at the 210 km checkpoint. He eventually finished 1’18” behind his teammate, but the result was enough to move him back into the overall top three, where he now holds a one-minute advantage over Luciano Benavides in fourth.

Howes showed strong pace throughout the mountainous sections and briefly led the stage at the 45 km mark, holding a 12-second advantage over Schareina. Maintaining solid navigation through the technical terrain, the American secured his first stage podium of the rally in third, just over three minutes adrift of the winner. He now sits fifth overall, 18’19” off the lead.

Adrien Van Beveren continued working to fine-tune his Honda CRF450 RALLY setup and finished seventh on the day, 6’47” behind Schareina. The Frenchman remains sixth overall, 29 minutes off the lead, but could benefit from a more favourable starting position on tomorrow’s finale as he targets a stage victory.

The final day of the Desafío Ruta 40 promises another fierce battle, with a decisive 320 km timed stage still to come on Argentine soil.

Ricky Brabec: That day was long, we woke up super early this morning as this was the second longest stage. High altitude today, fast tracks and got back some valuable time with one day left. Let’s see what we can do. Overall, the rally is going good, I got sick two days ago and just kind of battling this and just doing the best job we can.

Skyler Howes: It was a very Dakar-style day, this was super super physical. There were a lot of tricky notes and navigation, the riverbeds, the whole terrain was destroyed from water, so a lot of broken rain ruts, rocks, it was super physical. I did good with the navigation today and I feel like I was riding a bit timid and a little too easy, so, all in all it was still a great day. One more day to go and I’m feeling it after today, so I need some good rest and then we give one good push tomorrow.

Adrien Van Beveren: It was another tough day for me, I tried to improve, I tried to get better. To be honest I enjoyed the riding on the WRC-style tracks and then we had a lot of riverbeds, I was trying to be fast, but still not enough. We tried different specs with the bike and I tried to feel more confident. One more stage to go, so we will give the best until the end.

Rally GP Result – Stage 4

1. Tosha Schareina Monster Energy Honda HRC03:37:48

2. Ricky Brabec Monster Energy Honda HRC+01:18

3. Skyler Howes Monster Energy Honda HRC+03:10

4. Luciano Benavides77ARGRed Bull KTM Rally Factory Team+05:35

5. Ross Branch Hero Motorsports Team Rally+06:17

6. Daniel Sanders Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team+06:20

7. Adrien Van Beveren Monster Energy Honda HRC+06:47

8. Edgar Canet Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team+08:27

9. Bradley Cox Sherco Rally Factory+11:14

10. José Ignacio Cornejo Hero Motorsports Team Rally+16:33

Provisional Rally GP Standings After Stage 4

1. Daniel Sanders Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team13:20:49

2. Tosha Schareina Monster Energy Honda HRC+07:16

3. Ricky Brabec Monster Energy Honda HRC+14:10

4. Luciano Benavides Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team+15:12

5. Skyler Howes Monster Energy Honda HRC+18:19

6. Adrien Van Beveren Monster Energy Honda HRC+29:00

7. Edgar Canet Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team+33:28

8. Ross Branch Hero Motorsports Team Rally+38:25

9. Bradley Cox Sherco Rally Factory+56:46

10. José Ignacio Cornejo Hero Motorsports Team Rally+01:05:54