2025 Dakar Rally: Edgar Canet tops Rally2 in Red Bull KTM debut

19-year-old Edgar Canet has only been doing rally raids for barely two years, but he’s one of the hottest rising stars in the discipline. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing was so confident in his abilities that the team decided to sign him to the roster, despite not being a RallyGP competitor like his new colleagues Kevin and Luciano Benavides and Daniel Sanders, just weeks before the 2025 Dakar Rally.

While desert rallies were not his specialty as someone who primarily competed in the tight forests of Europe, Canet had impressed in his first dune-based race when he finished second in Rally2 at the Rallye du Maroc. Dakar, of course, is another beast entirely.

Still, he was more than up for the challenge. He took the early advantage by winning the Prologue then finished second to reigning Malle Moto winner Tobias Ebster in Stage #1. The latter would be the only day in which Canet did not lead the Rally2 overall standings.

Another runner-up in the Chrono Stage propelled him past Ebster to regain the top spot, which he never relinquished. Canet further bolstered his résumé with three more stage wins, pulling as far away as 38 minutes on the field by Stage #9. The run completes a clean sweep for Red Bull KTM as Sanders won on the RallyGP side; the duo even finished 1–2 among all bikes in Stage #7 with Sanders beating Canet by 3:36.

“I’m super happy to have got P1 in Rally2,” said Canet. “It’s a dream come true, and I am really pleased for the team too. Now, it’s time to party and celebrate.”

Ebster settled for runner-up in a still impressive sophomore run. He and Canet were originally due to be BAS World KTM teammates before the latter joined the KTM factory team.

Romain Dumontier joined them on the podium in his first race with Honda Racing Corporation. While HRC is a RallyGP outfit via Monster Energy Honda Team, Dumontier is not part of that team proper like Canet is with Red Bull KTM.

Michael Docherty was hindered by a Stage #1 crash that fractured his shoulder blade, such that his fifth probably did not tell the full story of his performance. He beat every bike to win Stage #10, the first Rally2 rider to win a Dakar stage outright since Danilo Petrucci in 2022; unlike Petrucci, who benefitted from a penalty, Docherty did so on raw speed. He then added another stage win on the final day.

Neels Theric finished sixth for Kove Moto, meaning Kove’s founder and former CEO Zhang Xue’s five-year plan is once again steaming along. Zhang, who left Kove last March, envisioned a Kove finishing top ten in 2025 after simply reaching the end in its debut in 2023 and a top 20 in 2024 (which they failed); for 2026, he had wanted to see a Kove on the podium before winning in 2027.

Theric was one of 11 Koves in Rally2, competing for the factory team after Zhang’s departure resulted in the rally division breaking into multiple outfits. One such splinter was Sunier and Deng Liansong’s Supesunr Team; the former finished 27th while the latter broke his ankle in a Stage #4 crash.

Hoto Factory Racing, a rival of sort of Kove formed over the summer, enjoyed bringing all three of its bikes to the finish led by ex-Kove factory rider Xavier Flick. Arūnas Gelažninkas went from having the front forks on his bikes snap off at the start of Stage #9 to bringing it home in 22nd.

Isle of Man TT winner James Hillier, back at Dakar after taking 2024 off, was among the last finishers in the class on his Kove 450. A rock slammed him head-first into the ground 290 kilometers into Stage #1, forcing him to miss the Chrono Stage. He was able to rejoin afterward, even if he was out of the picture. An electrical issue in Stage #9 caused further delays but he ultimately reached the end.

“Dakar is about endurance and fighting through what ever it throws at you, adapting the way your brain naturally wants to operate towards the easy way out,” wrote Hillier after the race. “But there is no easy way here and that’s what I like about it. To me this race is about getting to that finish line and conquer what ever the desert hits you with, alongside like minded others chasing that same goal.

“The IOMTT is a totally different race for me with a desire and drive to try and win but Dakar is about the adventure and total unknown of just what’s over that next sand dune.”

Just ahead of Hillier in the final results, Mathieu Dovèze was knocked out by a Stage #3 crash that destroyed his navigation tower. He rejoined the race and proved to still be fast with two stage wins, even if unable to finish any higher than in the mid-70s.

2024 Rally2 winner Harith Noah saw his Dakar defense end in the Prologue after crashing and breaking his wrists. Robbie Wallace sustained a back injury on the fourth leg but was cleared to return and brought it home in 74th; while conceding he was disappointed about the stage DNF, it was a “win still for me” to be classified.

Fellow Dakar newcomers Justin Gerlach and Willem Avenant overcame a handful of misadventures, such as respectively a bad fever and having rocks thrown at him by a heckler in the Chrono Stage, to reach the end. Avenant noted he fell sick too after the race, which he assumed is because spending “two weeks in the dust mixed with weakened immune system created some weird chest thing for me.”

Jan Brabec scored a top 20 in his final Dakar.

Overall results

FinishOverallNumberRiderTeamTimeMargin
1873Edgar Canet #Red Bull KTM Factory Racing5:49:21Leader
2996Tobias EbsterBAS World KTM Racing Team55:22:46+ 33:25
31216Romain DumontierHonda Racing Corporation56:11:54+ 1:22:33
41328Toni MulecBAS World KTM Racing Team56:34:29+ 1:45:08
51422Michael DochertyBAS World KTM Racing Team56:50:02+ 2:00:41
61566Neels ThericKove Moto56:52:25+ 2:03:04
71626Konrad DąbrowskiDUUST Rally Team57:02:54+ 2:13:33
81794Dušan DrdajCajdašrot Dakar Team57:11:15+ 2:21:54
919126Toby Hederics #BAS World KTM Racing Team57:55:50+ 3:06:29
102034Emanuel Gyenes †Autonet Motorcycle Team58:25:42+ 3:36:21
112139Benjamin Melot †Esprit KTM58:28:47+ 3:39:26
122223Jacob ArgubrightRS Moto58:51:48+ 4:02:27
132333Milan EngelOrion – Moto Racing Group59:13:36+ 4:24:15
142497Jaromír Romančík †Orion – Moto Racing Group59:53:25+ 5:04:04
152586Charlie HerbstChallenger Racing Team60:05:29+ 5:16:08
162625Jérôme Martiny †Anquety Motorsport60:16:52+ 5:27:31
172731Jeremy MiroirFantic Rally Team61:01:59+ 6:12:38
182895Xavier FlickHoto Factory Racing61:29:20+ 6:39:59
1929130Nerimantas Jucius #HT Rally Raid61:59:50+ 7:10:29
203018Jan BrabecStojrent Racing62:32:20+ 7:42:59
213191Mike Wiedemann †Mike Wiedemann62:43:35+ 7:54:14
223288Arūnas GelažninkasHoto Factory Racing63:33:02+ 8:43:41
233343Julien DalbecNomade Racing64:06:50+ 9:17:29
243499Javi Vega †Pont Grup64:40:23+ 9:51:02
253536Tommaso MontanariFantic Rally Team65:18:55+ 10:29:34
263648David Pabiška †SP Moto Bohemia65:19:55+ 10:30:34
273745SunierSupesunr Team65:57:38+ 11:08:17
283857Fang XiangliangHoto Factory Racing66:11:55+ 11:22:34
293963Jérémie Gerber †TLD Racing66:33:55+ 11:44:34
304049Juan Santiago RostanXraids Experience66:42:50+ 11:53:29
3141148Tomás de GavardoFantic Rally Team67:49:53+ 13:00:32
324282Andrea Winkler †Motoclub Yashica68:03:55+ 13:14:34
3343100Sandra GómezFantic Rally Team68:15:13+ 13:25:52
3444127Adam Peschel #Fesh Fesh69:18:11+ 14:28:50
354535Bruno SantosBruno Santos69:55:48+ 15:06:27
364693Tiziano Internó †Rally POV71:07:53+ 16:18:32
374752Marshall Méplon #Solurent Racing72:05:33+ 17:16:12
3848114Dwain Barnard #Nomade Racing72:44:59+ 17:55:38
394959Bartłomiej TabinOrion – Moto Racing Group74:13:23+ 1:24:02
405089Francisco Alvarez Niño #Joyride Race Service74:52:10+ 20:02:49
415165Guillaume CholletXraids Experience75:19:58+ 20:30:37
425271Modestas SiliunasAG Dakar School75:53:43+ 21:04:22
435384Vasilis Boudros †DNA Air Filters Racing Team / Enduro Greece76:00:55+ 21:11:34
445472Philippe GendronNomade Racing76:25:38+ 21:36:17
4555134Clément Artaud #RS Concept76:33:20+ 21:43:59
465653Thomas KongshøjJoyride Race Service76:37:48+ 21:48:27
475790Álvaro CóppolaMED Racing78:11:17+ 23:21:56
4858135Benjamin Bourdariat #RS Concept78:47:06+ 23:57:45
495983Fabien DomasRS Concept78:47:58+ 23:58:37
5060128Max BianucciNomade Racing79:01:44+ 24:12:23
516185Manuel Lucchese †Team Rebel X79:30:30+ 24:41:09
526279Maxime Pouponnot #Fantic Rally Team79:55:02+ 25:05:41
536355Zhang MinDa Hai Dao Zero Mileague Lubricant80:03:18+ 25:13:57
546432David CasteuTeam Casteu Trophy83:07:14+ 28:17:53
556556Zhao HongyiDa Hai Dao Zero Mileague Lubricant89:43:31+ 34:54:10
5666113Gad NachmaniClub Aventura Touareg90:08:13+ 35:18:52
5767116Jordan Strachan Reed #Kove Canada91:08:31+ 36:19:10
5868107Rafic Eid #MX Academy91:28:59+ 36:39:38
5969109Óscar Hernández #ADEC Competicio Total Team91:59:58+ 37:10:37
6070106Axel Mustad #HT Rally Raid92:44:28+ 37:55:07
617169Francisco ArredondoBAS World KTM Racing Team92:49:33+ 38:00:12
6272125Damien Bataller # †Team DB Racing95:55:42+ 41:06:21
6373119Mykolas Paulavičius #Joyride Race Service96:09:50+ 41:20:29
6474111Justin Gerlach #DUUST Rally Team97:16:03+ 42:26:42
6575105Jean-Philippe Révolte #Révolte Racing97:42:07+ 42:52:46
6676141Purevdorj Murun #Nomadas Adventure101:21:18+ 46:31:57
6777120Jim Moisa #Enduro Normandie101:24:41+ 46:35:20
6878117Ottavio Missoni Jr. †Kove Italia Lucky Explorer103:49:43+ 49:00:22
697940Martin ProkešOrion – Moto Racing Group104:20:04+ 49:30:43
708092Jiří Brož #BAS World KTM Racing Team105:23:17+ 50:33:56
7181102Ignacio SanchisClub Aventura Touareg107:58:38+ 53:09:17
7282112Willem Avenant #HT Rally Raid120:49:36+ 66:00:15
738329Paolo LucciRS Moto132:59:50+ 78:10:29
7484143Robbie Wallace #Xraids Experience140:49:09+ 85:59:48
7585108Marc CalmetRieju Pedregà Team149:12:40+ 94:23:19
768621Mathieu DovèzeBAS World KTM Racing Team159:40:49+ 104:51:28
778750James HillierWTF Racing166:38:43+ 111:49:22
7888104Simon Marčič †Team Marčič223:07:17+ 168:17:56
7989131Ahmed Al-Jaber # †Hleem238:32:25+ 183:43:09
DNFDNF20Harith NoahSherco Rally Factory TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF27Juan Puga †KTM JP1 MotorcyclesDNFN/A
DNFDNF38Eduardo Iglesias SánchezTeam Monforte Rally – GaliciaDNFN/A
DNFDNF44Josep PedróRieju Pedregà TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF51Rachid Al-Lal Lahadil †Melilla Ciudad Del Deporte La SalleDNFN/A
DNFDNF60Arnaud DometTeam Casteu TrophyDNFN/A
DNFDNF61Bertrand DometTeam Casteu TrophyDNFN/A
DNFDNF62Andrew Houlihan †Nomadas AdventureDNFN/A
DNFDNF64Alexandre Vaudan #Team Casteu TrophyDNFN/A
DNFDNF70Mishal Alghuneim †Cloud RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF74Michael Jacobi †Môle Agri Forest / Magland RacewayDNFN/A
DNFDNF75Deng LiansongSupesunr TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF76Stéphane Darques †Motorbike Off Road Adventures LybertyDNFN/A
DNFDNF78Lorenzo MaestramiRS MotoDNFN/A
DNFDNF80Abdulhalim Almogheera †HaleemDNFN/A
DNFDNF81Cesare Zacchetti †Kove Italia Lucky ExplorerDNFN/A
DNFDNF87Ehab Alhakeem #Desert Storm RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF101Iader Giraldi †ZerantaDNFN/A
DNFDNF103Gediminas Satkus #AG Dakar SchoolDNFN/A
DNFDNF110Juanjo Martinez #ADEC Competicio Total TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF115Mathieu Feuvrier #Nomade RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF121Alexandre Yon #Enduro NormandieDNFN/A
DNFDNF122Thomas Georgin #Enduro NormandieDNFN/A
DNFDNF123Fabien von ThüngenHT Rally RaidDNFN/A
DNFDNF124Badr Al-Hamdan #Desert Storm RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF129Jatin Jain #Jatin JainDNFN/A
DNFDNF132Carlos Alfonso Malo Peña #MED RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF133Ginés Belzunces Viudez #Club Aventura TouaregDNFN/A
DNFDNF136Ferran Zaragoza #Pedregà TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF137Yann Di Mauro #RS MotoDNFN/A
DNFDNF138Iván Merichal #Casas Cube – Ártabros RallyDNFN/A
DNFDNF139Salman Mohamed Humood FarhanCloud RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF140Dennis Mildenberger #Nomadas AdventureDNFN/A
DNFDNF144Ashish RaoraneXraids ExperienceDNFN/A
Bold – Junior Trophy
Italics – Veteran Trophy
Underscore – Women Trophy
# – Rookie
† – Original by Motul

Stage winners

StageWinnerTime
PrologueEdgar Canet16:51.7
Stage #1Tobias Ebster5:11:56
Stage #2Michael Docherty11:24:03
Stage #3Edgar Canet3:50:05
Stage #4Tobias Ebster5:20:47
Stage #5Edgar Canet5:00:17
Stage #6Tobias Ebster5:09:06
Stage #7Edgar Canet4:14:09
Stage #8Michael Docherty4:57:14
Stage #9Mathieu Dovèze3:27:56
Stage #10Michael Docherty2:00:03
Stage #11Mathieu Dovèze2:19:40
Stage #12Michael Docherty54:11

W2RC

RankRiderPointsMargin
1Edgar Canet38Leader
2Tobias Ebster30– 8
3Romain Dumontier24– 14
4Toni Mulec20– 18
5Michael Docherty17– 21
6Neels Theric15– 23
7Konrad Dąbrowski14– 24
8Dušan Drdaj12– 26
9Toby Hederics11– 27
10Emanuel Gyenes9– 29
11Benjamin Melot8– 30
12Jacob Argubright6– 32
13Milan Engel5– 33
14Jaromír Romančík3– 35
T-15Ahmed Al-Jaber2– 36
T-15Francisco Arredondo2– 36
T-15Clément Artaud5– 33
T-15Willem Avenant2– 36
T-15Dwain Barnard2– 36
T-15Damien Bataller2– 36
T-15Max Bianucci2– 36
T-15Vasilis Boudros2– 36
T-15Jan Brabec2– 36
T-15Jiří Brož2– 36
T-15Marc Calmet2– 36
T-15David Casteu2– 36
T-15Guillaume Chollet2– 36
T-15Álvaro Cóppola2– 36
T-15Julien Dalbec2– 36
T-15Fabien Domas2– 36
T-15Rafic Eid2– 36
T-15Xavier Flick2– 36
T-15Arūnas Gelažninkas2– 36
T-15Philippe Gendron2– 36
T-15Jérémie Gerber2– 36
T-15Justin Gerlach2– 36
T-15Sandra Gómez2– 36
T-15Charlie Herbst2– 36
T-15Óscar Hernández2– 36
T-15James Hillier2– 36
T-15Zhao Hongyi2– 36
T-15Tiziano Internó2– 36
T-15Nerimantas Jucius2– 36
T-15Thomas Kongshøj2– 36
T-15Paolo Lucci2– 36
T-15Jérôme Martiny2– 36
T-15Simon Marčič2– 36
T-15Zhang Min2– 36
T-15Jeremy Miroir2– 36
T-15Ottavio Missoni Jr.2– 36
T-15Jim Moisa2– 36
T-15Tommaso Montanari2– 36
T-15Purevdorj Murun2– 36
T-15Axel Mustad2– 36
T-15Marshall Méplon2– 36
T-15Gad Nachmani2– 36
T-15Francisco Niño Alvarez2– 36
T-15David Pabiška2– 36
T-15Mykolas Paulavičius2– 36
T-15Adam Peschel2– 36
T-15Maxime Pouponnot2– 36
T-15Martin Prokeš2– 36
T-15Juan Santiago Rostan2– 36
T-15Ignacio Sanchis2– 36
T-15Bruno Santos2– 36
T-15Modestas Siliunas2– 36
T-15Jordan Strachan2– 36
T-15Sunier2– 36
T-15Bartłomiej Tabin2– 36
T-15Javi Vega2– 36
T-15Robbie Wallace2– 36
T-15Mike Wiedemann2– 36
T-15Andrea Winkler2– 36
T-15Fang Xiangliang2– 36
T-15Tomás de Gavardo2– 36

Featured image credit: Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

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