W2RC: Sanders like a champion

Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) clinched his last win of 2025 in the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal and his first of the 2026 season at the exact same place.

The reigning world champion and Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC) steamrolled the opposition and hogged the six RallyGP stages on offer. The Spaniard pushed him all the way to the finish, but the Australian ultimately prevailed by 1′56″. Adrien Van Beveren rounded out the podium astride his own Honda (+8′25″), drawing a line under the crash that had ended his race here in 2025 (see Performance of the week). The movers and shakers of the Dakar struggled on the Portuguese tracks. Luciano Benavides (+27′47″) and Ricky Brabec (+41′28″) had to settle for sixth and eighth in the RallyGP standings, with the top Hero MotoSports man, Ross Branch (+25′38″), splitting the two.

This has a substantial impact on the championship: the Argentinian retained the lead, but Schareina (second), Sanders (third) and Brabec (fourth) are all within 10 points of him. KTM head the manufacturers’ standings ahead of Honda and Hero.

Bruno Santos (Frutas Patrícia Pilar) put in a monster performance in Rally2, winning three of the six specials on his way to home victory. The Honda factory rider Martim Ventura and his Kove counterpart Neels Theric rounded out the podium, with the Frenchman landing the Chinese marque its first W2RC podium finish. Santos also deserves credit for finishing fifth in the FIM overall ranking against the RallyGP machinery.

The championship leader, Toni Mulec (BAS World KTM), came home fifth in Rally2 and remains perched at the summit, but Ventura has trimmed the gap to just 5 points. The Portuguese rider helped propel Monster Energy Honda HRC to the apex of the team standings.

Gonçalo Amaral (Wingmotor) joined Sanders in the select club of double winners at this event, repeating his Rally3 triumph from 2024. He opened the 2026 season at the top of the Rally3 standings, mirroring the achievement of Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder Racing) in the quad race. The Lithuanian finally added his name to the annals of the bp Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal after coming up one place short in 2024 and 2025.