Edgar Canet’s 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship started with a bang when he topped Rally2 at the Dakar Rally, then came to a crashing halt when he broke his elbow on the first stage of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Now fully recovered, he returned to the series with a vengeance as he won four stages en route to the South African Safari Rally victory.
Abu Dhabi winner Michael Docherty edged out Canet to lead the Prologue by just five seconds, and initially topped Stage 1 as well before he received 13 minutes of penalties for being late to the start (he was sick in the morning) and missing a waypoint. The latter bumped Canet up to first for the stage, and he proved it wasn’t a Mickey Mouse win as he basically fired the Death Star superlaser at the Rally2 field from there.
A penalty-filled Stage 2 ended with Canet winning by nearly 12 minutes on Tobias Ebster and 17 and a half on Docherty. Already in a hole due to the minutes added from Stage 1, Docherty tried to slice down the gap but lost again by three-and-a-half minutes in Stage 3 and by 6:17 the next day. Instead, Docherty’s rival became Ebster who led him by seven minutes going into the final stage.
“Everyone was so close at this rally and one navigation mistake costs you huge,” Docherty commented.
Of course, Canet was already up by over 20 minutes entering Stage 5. With enough of a comfortable cushion and obviously not wanting a repeat of Abu Dhabi, he was able to cruise for the last day and settled for fourth to secure the overall.
“The goal this year is to make as many kilometers as I ca. One day in the future, I want to be winning races outright,” said Canet. His time was good for seventh among all bikes, even beating RallyGP riders like Bradley Cox and its defending champion Ross Branch.
Ebster won Stage 5 to top his battle with Docherty, marking the first Rally2 stage win for Hero MotoSports in his debut as their factory rider, and maintain the category’s points lead. Canet moves past Docherty for second in the standings and trails Ebster by three points.
Ruy Barbosa finished fourth to continue his impressive W2RC rookie campaign. He beat Konrad Dąbrowski by just one minute for the spot, the latter doing South Africa for BAS World rather than his usual DUUST Rally Team for logistical reasons.
2026 Dakar Rally hopeful Florian Bancilhon all but solidified his prospects of being accepted as he finished sixth, tops among Malle Moto riders.
In their final W2RC race with Husqvarna before switching to Honda, HT Rally Raid’s best finisher was Massimo Camurri in 13th.
Harith Noah and Martin Camp were the race’s two retirements. The former crashed after an animal leaped out in front of him in Stage 1 and hurt his hand, continuing a difficult 2025 season for the 2024 Dakar class winner. Camp, hoping to use South Africa to improve his chances of making next year’s Dakar, dislocated his shoulder after swerving at speed in the dust to avoid an approaching race car and crashing.
Libor Pletka did not start the race after he broke his collarbone in private testing.
Results
| Finish | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 73 | Edgar Canet | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 14:17:00 | Leader |
| 2 | 9 | 96 | Tobias Ebster | Hero MotoSports | 14:32:24 | + 15:24 |
| 3 | 10 | 22 | Michael Docherty | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 14:40:35 | + 23:35 |
| 4 | 12 | 41 | Ruy Barbosa | Xraids Experience | 15:27:16 | + 1:10:16 |
| 5 | 13 | 26 | Konrad Dąbrowski | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 15:28:39 | + 1:11:39 |
| 6 | 14 | 55 | Florian Bancilhon † | Florian Bancilhon | 16:27:03 | + 2:10:03 |
| 7 | 15 | 51 | Mauritz Meiring | Mauritz Meiring | 16:27:40 | + 2:10:40 |
| 8 | 16 | 114 | Dwain Barnard | Dwain Barnard | 16:52:21 | + 2:35:21 |
| 9 | 17 | 49 | Juan Santiago Rostan | Xraids Experience | 16:57:50 | + 2:40:50 |
| 10 | 19 | 24 | Filip Grot | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 17:22:22 | + 3:05:22 |
| 11 | 20 | 60 | Matthieu Jauffraud † | Matthieu Jauffraud | 17:26:02 | + 3:09:02 |
| 12 | 22 | 123 | Anthony Raynard | Anthony Raynard | 17:26:54 | + 3:09:54 |
| 13 | 23 | 34 | Massimo Camurri | HT Rally Raid | 17:28:00 | + 3:11:00 |
| 14 | 24 | 36 | Ian Olthof | HT Rally Raid | 17:31:03 | + 3:14:03 |
| 15 | 25 | 35 | Pedro Pinheiro | Old Friends Rally Team | 17:51:43 | + 3:34:43 |
| 16 | 26 | 45 | John Medina † | Xraids Experience | 18:08:03 | + 3:51:03 |
| 17 | 27 | 43 | Sebastián Urquía | Xraids Experience | 18:03:33 | + 3:51:33 |
| 18 | 28 | 23 | Nathan Rafferty | BAS World KTM Racing Team | 18:16:03 | + 3:59:06 |
| 19 | 29 | 75 | Dominique Cizeau | Xraids Experience | 19:26:19 | + 5:09:19 |
| 20 | 30 | 52 | Benjamin Pousset † | Benjamin Pousset | 20:22:17 | + 6:05:17 |
| 21 | 31 | 48 | Xavier Gregoire † | Xavier Gregoire | 20:37:21 | + 6:20:21 |
| 22 | 32 | 46 | Martin Lourens | Martin Lourens | 20:47:20 | + 6:30:20 |
| 23 | 33 | 44 | Jatin Jain † | Jatin Jain | 21:48:18 | + 7:31:18 |
| 24 | 34 | 88 | Alexandre Torrão | Alexandre Torrão | 23:07:55 | + 8:50:55 |
| 25 | 35 | 32 | Gustavo Milutín | HT Rally Raid | 25:01:13 | + 10:44:13 |
| 26 | 36 | 50 | Yugandhar Prasad Jasti | Yugandhar Prasad Jasti | 27:02:26 | + 12:45:26 |
| DNF | DNF | 20 | Harith Noah | Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | DNF | 33 | Martin Camp | Martin Camp | DNF | N/A |
| DNS | DNS | 25 | Libor Pletka | BAS World KTM Racing Team | DNS | N/A |
Italics – Veteran Trophy
† – Malle Moto
Stage winners
| Stage | Overall | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | 3 | Michael Docherty | 7:16.7 |
| Stage 1 | 8 | Edgar Canet | 2:55:59 |
| Stage 2 | 6 | Edgar Canet | 3:51:01 |
| Stage 3 | 9 | Edgar Canet | 3:22:51 |
| Stage 4 | 4 | Edgar Canet | 2:24:28 |
| Stage 5 | 9 | Tobias Ebster | 1:30:33 |
W2RC
W2RC
| Rank | Rider | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tobias Ebster | 66 | Leader |
| 2 | Edgar Canet | 63 | – 3 |
| 3 | Michael Docherty | 58 | – 8 |
| 4 | Konrad Dąbrowski | 45 | – 21 |
| 5 | Ruy Barbosa | 26 | – 40 |
| 6 | Romain Dumontier | 24 | – 42 |
| 7 | Toni Mulec | 20 | – 46 |
| 8 | Neels Theric | 15 | – 51 |
| 9 | Dušan Drdaj | 12 | – 54 |
| T-10 | Toby Hederics | 11 | – 55 |
| T-10 | Martim Ventura | 11 | – 55 |
| T-12 | Florian Bancilhon | 10 | – 56 |
| T-12 | Dwain Barnard | 10 | – 56 |
| T-12 | Andro Korlaet | 10 | – 56 |
| T-15 | Hamdan Al-Ali | 9 | – 57 |
| T-15 | Khaliunbold Erdenebileg | 9 | – 57 |
| T-15 | Emanuel Gyenes | 9 | – 57 |
| T-15 | Juan Santiago Rostan | 9 | – 57 |
| T-19 | Thomas Childs | 8 | – 58 |
| T-19 | Benjamin Melot | 8 | – 58 |
| 21 | Mattia Riva | 7 | – 59 |
| T-22 | Jacob Argubright | 6 | – 60 |
| T-22 | Filip Grot | 6 | – 60 |
| T-22 | Markus Hertlein | 6 | – 60 |
| T-25 | Milan Engel | 5 | – 61 |
| T-25 | Matthieu Jauffraud | 5 | – 61 |
| T-25 | Abdul Wahid | 5 | – 61 |
| T-28 | Martin Chalmers | 4 | – 62 |
| T-28 | Anthony Raynard | 4 | – 62 |
| T-30 | Massimo Camurri | 3 | – 63 |
| T-30 | Justin Gerlach | 3 | – 63 |
| T-30 | Jaromír Romančík | 3 | – 63 |
| T-30 | Edvard Sokolovskij | 3 | – 63 |
| T-34 | Sunier | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Ahmed Al-Jaber | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Francisco Arredondo | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Clément Artaud | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Willem Avenant | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Damien Bataller | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Max Bianucci | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Vasilis Boudros | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Benjamin Bourdariat | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jan Brabec | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jiří Brož | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Marc Calmet | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | David Casteu | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Guillaume Chollet | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Álvaro Cóppola | 2 | – 64– |
| T-34 | Julien Dalbec | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Fabien Domas | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Mathieu Dovèze | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Rafic Eid | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Xavier Flick | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Arūnas Gelažninkas | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Philippe Gendron | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jérémie Gerber | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Sandra Gómez | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Charlie Herbst | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Óscar Hernández | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | James Hillier | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Zhao Hongyi | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Tiziano Internó | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Nerimantas Jucius | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Thomas Kongshøj | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Manuel Lucchese | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Paolo Lucci | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jérôme Martiny | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Simon Marčič | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Zhang Min | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jeremy Miroir | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Ottavio Missoni Jr. | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jim Moisa | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Tomasso Montanari | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Purevdorj Murun | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Axel Mustad | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Marshall Méplon | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Gad Nachmani | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Ian Olthof | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | David Pabiška | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Mykolas Paulavičius | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Adam Peschel | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Maxime Pouponnot | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Martin Prokeš | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jean-Philippe Révolte | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Ignacio Sanchis | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Bruno Santos | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Modestas Siliunas | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Jordan Strachan | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Bartłomiej Tabin | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Sebastián Urquía | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Javi Vega | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Robbie Wallace | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Mike Wiedemann | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Andrea Winkler | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Fang Xiangliang | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Tomás de Gavardo | 2 | – 64 |
| T-34 | Francisco Álvarez | 2 | – 64 |
| T-98 | Eduardo Alan | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | David Brock | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Dominique Cizeau | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Leonardo Cola | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Xavier Gregoire | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Massimiliano Guerrini | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Yugandhar Prasad Jasti | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Jason Joslin | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Kees Koolen | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Ricardo Lastra | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Martin Lourens | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Roberto Mariscal | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | John Medina | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Alessandro Mendoza | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Ludwig Messager | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Gustavo Milutín | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Pedro Pinheiro | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Benjamin Pousset | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Robert Przybyłowski | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Nathan Rafferty | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Tony Schattat | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Craig Searles | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Carl Searles | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Alexandre Torrão | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Joan Viñals | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Blas Zapag | 1 | – 65 |
| T-98 | Iñigo Zardoya | 1 | – 65 |
Junior Trophy
| Rank | Rider | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konrad Dąbrowski | 75 | Leader |
| 2 | Edgar Canet | 63 | – 12 |
| 3 | Justin Gerlach | 40 | – 35 |
| 4 | Fang Xiangling | 24 | – 51 |
Veteran Trophy
| Rank | Rider | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Pabiška | 38 | Leader |
| 2 | Bartłomiej Tabin | 30 | – 8 |
| 3 | Jatin Jain | 25 | – 13 |
| 4 | Philippe Gendron | 24 | – 14 |
| 5 | Álvaro Cóppola | 20 | – 18 |
| 6 | Fabien Domas | 17 | – 21 |
| 7 | Zhang Min | 15 | – 23 |
| 8 | David Casteu | 14 | – 24 |
| 9 | Gad Nachmani | 12 | – 26 |
| 10 | Rafic Eid | 11 | – 27 |
| 11 | Óscar Hernández | 9 | – 29 |
| 12 | Francisco Arredondo | 8 | – 30 |
| 13 | Ignacio Sanchis | 6 | – 32 |
Women Trophy
| Rank | Rider | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandra Gómez | 38 | Leader |
Featured image credit: Irina Petrichei / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO
131 Off-Road 
Leave a comment