Tosha Schareina, a 28-year-old Valencian rider, did not even wait for the first stage to demonstrate her ambition and pace in her first Dakar on an official motorcycle. The pearl of motorcycling off road Spaniard was able to boast of victory in the prologue with the Honda, one of the favorites to lift the Touareg two weeks from now in Yanbu. . This is his debut as a winner in his third participation in the rally. He is here to win it, and he 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 17m35s, Schareina beat Daniel Sanders (GasGas) and Ross Branch (Hero), beating the next official Honda, that of Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, by 24s. Joan Barreda, the driver with the most active wins (29), started his new career on a bad foot. A fall without apparent consequences caused him to lose some time and he crossed the finish line fifteenth at 1m25s. Some differences that will begin to count for the classification and that will also serve to establish the starting order for Saturday's stage between Al-Ula and Al Hanakiyah, the first special of the 46th edition of the rally, with 405 kilometers under the stopwatch and another 127 link.
Schareina, who began racing as a child, inspired by his uncle Mariano, a fan of motocross and enduro, hesitated about following in the footsteps of his idols on the asphalt, from Sete Gibernau to Marc Márquez. Through hard work and talent, he soon made a place for himself in the Enduro World Championship, with competitive results in the junior category. During his career, there were several moments when he was on the verge of being left without a bike, especially when he pursued his dream of rallying. After high school, he abandoned his studies and dedicated himself to traveling half of Spain from circuit to circuit, practically living in the van where he loaded the motorcycle and his belongings. At 25 years old, the driver earned a direct invitation to the legendary event after winning the Andalusia rally in 2020. His debut on the big stage impressed, as he was 13th at the finish line and second best rookie in the 2021 edition .
Jorge Martínez Aspar then proposed a private project for the 2022 edition, but the young promise was left with honey on his lips due to problems with last-minute paperwork. The dust of interest died down during her forced absence, but in 2023 she reconfirmed her potential with another 13th place finish. Former Portuguese driver Ruben Faria, second place in 2013 and current sporting director of Honda, thought long and hard about his commitment to Schareina. After much thought, he called him at the last minute to offer him the last place in the Japanese red army. After hanging up the phone a week before the Sonora rally, the Valencian took a flight to Mexico and was able to test just three days before debuting the new bike. Once again, he surprised everyone with a second place, his first podium in the World Rally Raid (W2RC).
His brilliant 2023, where he also won the Baja Aragón and the Desafío Ruta 40, another of the World Cup events, has confirmed him as one of the most promising young people in the competition, and this Dakar may simply be his confirmation. “The ultimate goal is to fight for victory, but I know I am still in a learning process. I am the youngest on the team and I am learning a lot from my teammates. What gives me confidence and gratitude is that we are taking all the steps to one day win the Dakar,” he explained before traveling to Saudi Arabia.
Schareina, a road and track specialist, has demonstrated his speed at a fixed shot. His desire, sheltered by the factory with the most muscle in the world of two wheels, is through the roof. His weak point continues to be the dunes, where he has much less experience than his great rivals for the crown. “The first week and the Chrono 48h marathon will be crucial,” pointed out the main protagonist of the day. “Today I felt very good in the sand, but we have to keep our feet on the ground, the real race starts tomorrow.” He was overflowing with joy, but also contention, as he walked around the bivouac after his victory. Her mother, Mara, never imagined that giving her that motorcycle that she wanted so much at the age of 7 would forever transform her son's life. Now, after his debut at the top of the podium dakarianit 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 without impact on the classification in 47th place, 2m18s behind the winner. His teammate at Audi, the Swede Mattias Ekström, took the victory ahead of Seth Quintero (Toyota), a young American promise, and the Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive), with a time of 16m30s.
“The plan was to finish like the 15th or so, but it didn't turn out well,” Sainz acknowledged upon his arrival at the German brand's tents. “We got lost in one place and then we stopped before the arrival and we made a mistake in the calculation. We thought that we had lost less time than we really lost, and in wanting to add time to avoid finishing in the top ten we were wrong. The truth is that we have not done a good job,” he stated. Although the couple of minutes lost do not count, their delayed starting position in the first stage will be problematic as they have to overtake slower vehicles in the clouds of dust.
Nani Roma, on his return to the Dakar after overcoming bladder cancer, finished 17th, very satisfied with his sensations and the performance of the Ford, a vehicle that in principle is not capable of competing with the totems of the competition. The top ten finishers of this Saturday's stage in cars will choose their starting position tomorrow, in the first opportunity to apply strategic tricks in this edition.
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