Schareina Thrives in Marathon, Closing in on Leadership

As the challenging Dakar 2025 progresses, Tosha Schareina's candidacy in motorcycles grows stronger. The Valencian rider is poised to achieve what his compatriot Joan Barreda could not for many years. The Honda rider narrowly missed victory in the fourth stage of the rally, the first part of the marathon stage where competitors must reach the finish line without assistance and without any help, except for what their rivals are willing to offer.

Schareina did not win, but he is not worried. The victory went to Daniel Sanders, who has already won four stages in this edition, after a day of cat and mouse with the Valencian, who ultimately did not win because he chose not to. With 32 kilometers to the finish, the Spanish rider had a comfortable lead of two and a half minutes over Sanders and was on track for his first stage victory beyond a prologue. However, aware that strategy is as important as speed and avoiding falls, he decided to ease off. The goal was not to open the track in stage 5, which is expected to be one of the most difficult, with the accumulated fatigue of these days.

"Today was tough, with rocky sections for 400 kilometers. I went full throttle from the start, caught up with Daniel at the refreshment point, and then we rode together. In the end, I tried to stay calm and lost two minutes to avoid opening tomorrow. It was time to take care of the bike and the tires because it's the marathon stage, and tomorrow we have 400 kilometers ahead," he explained at the Alula bivouac.

In the overall standings, Sanders still has a certain advantage that allows him not to take too many risks. The nearly 13 and a half minutes cushion over Schareina is sufficient as long as he doesn't have an untimely fall or a problem when opening the track, something that happened to Skyler Howes or Ricky Brabec, both with almost half an hour disadvantage in the overall standings compared to the leader of the two-wheel race. They will even have to avoid problems unrelated to the competition itself, like Mason Klein, who was leading the stage until kilometer 192 when conjunctivitis, which has been bothering him for days, forced him to seek assistance from the Dakar medical team.

The rocky terrains between Al-Henakiyah and Alula were a real nightmare for all competitors, also in the car category. If opening the track was already complicated in motorcycles, in four wheels it practically meant sinking, as demonstrated by Saood Variawa, who won on Tuesday, losing almost 50 minutes with serious difficulties from the first kilometers.

Even the one who almost never takes risks, Nasser Al-Attiyah, suffered. The Qatari was optimistic after confirming that Sebastien Loeb, his teammate at Dacia but also one of his main rivals, was forced to withdraw for the same reason as Carlos Sainz, the great 'bogeyman' of the rally and reigning champion. The accident that the Frenchman suffered also seriously damaged the roll cage of his Sandrider, forcing the FIA to treat him the same as the Matador: eliminated. Without the nine-time world rally champion, Al-Attiyah's only firm rival was the Dakar itself, along with the numerous Toyota army.

But the Dakar chooses, and the prince will have to suffer if he wants to claim his fifth title. In this stage, he suffered not one, but two problems in just 20 kilometers. First, he had to stop to change a slashed tire at kilometer 97, and then, at kilometer 118, to repair a suspension arm that had broken against a rock. He had to wait for Cristina Gutiérrez, a luxury assistance for him because she is no longer in competition but continues in the Dakar precisely for this type of situation. Thanks to the parts that the Burgos native lent him, Al-Attiyah was able to reach the finish line but with more than half an hour disadvantage with the day's winner, Yazeed Al Rajhi, who is now closing in on Henk Lategan's leadership.

Al-Attiyah admits it bluntly: he can no longer afford to be on the lookout as he usually does. "We had to wait for Cristina to give us hers (the suspension arm), we made the necessary repairs, and then we resumed the route. What else could we do? Things are as they are. But now the car is fine, and tomorrow we will have to adapt, and next week too. My only option is to attack," he confessed, without much joy on his face.

The second part of the marathon, between Alula and Ha'il, will be divided into two parts, with more emphasis on sand in the first 260 kilometers and a tougher terrain in the final stretch, on dirt tracks that will allow for more acceleration but also pose a greater risk. The favorites are aware that they cannot make mistakes in their reading of the day if they do not want to pack their bags before the rest day on Friday.