If not for his crash at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Edgar Canet very well could’ve swept the 2025 W2RC in Rally2. In just his first season with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, he was far and away the best rider in the class with four wins in five races (coincidentally, his teammate Daniel Sanders was the same in RallyGP) and the championship.

After winning the Dakar Rally to start the year, he had to make up lost ground when he crashed out of Abu Dhabi and broke his elbow. He rebounded with back-to-back victories at the South African Safari Rally and BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, the latter helping him pass Tobias Ebster for the points lead. Entering the Rallye du Maroc, he led ADDC winner Michael Docherty by 14 points and Ebster by 21.

Docherty put up as good of a fight as he could in Morocco, topping all Rally2 riders with four stage wins including the Prologue. However, Canet won Stage 1 and never relinquished the lead desptie his efforts; the closest Docherty came was 40 seconds after the third day. Docherty was also somewhat hampered by navigation errors and a crash at the start of Stage 3.

Stage 4 was ultimately the dagger as Docherty went off course 120 kilometers in. He initially thought he had deviated too far from the track before realizing he was only 700 meters off, “then [I] got frustrated and didn’t keep a cool head. […] Need to trust myself more with the navigation.”

While Docherty won the final stage and Canet was seventh, he was too far back to catch him in the overall such that his objective ended up being to preserve second place for the race with Stage 4 winner Konrad Dąbrowski on his tail.

Dąbrowski’s win was the 100th for KTM in Rally2 even though he doesn’t race for the factory team like Canet. Unsurprisingly, winning the title also meant Canet claimed the Junior Trophy for riders under 25.

“It feels good to finish the Rallye du Maroc, and what a way to finish an incredible season with a win in Rally2 and to take the world title,” said Canet. I’m super happy for the team and super happy for KTM. They have all put in so much to get us here. I’m really looking forward to where we can go from here.

“The plan now is to keep pushing, keep training, and of course, keep learning. Heading into Dakar, I want to beat my result from this year and then into next season, I want to be fighting for the overall.”

Despite Docherty’s run, Ebster narrowly held on to the runner-up spot in the final standings by just one point. While coming up short of the title, second is still a satisfying conclusion for Ebster in his first year with Hero.

David Pabiška clinched the Veteran Trophy for riders over 55. Aishwarya Pissay was in prime position to claim the Women Trophy from Sandra Gómez, who only raced Dakar, but received too many stage penalties that she wasn’t classified; six other riders also suffered the same fate.

Neels Theric impressed with a top-five finish, the highest W2RC finish for Kove Moto.

The Honda HRC Junior Team’s second race was a mixed bag. Preston Campbell, now in slightly more familiar territory than that offered by Portugal, fared well in the dunes and faster sand washes save for a few navigation whiffs and finished sixth. Martim Ventura, on the other hand, had his bib mousse break in Stage 2 that cost him 23 minutes.

Deen Munsters, a motocross rider with a prosthetic left leg, finished 60th in his W2RC debut with the help of locals and Spanish tourists. Munsters’ bike broke down on the final stage after sand got into the exhaust following a crash in the dunes, but fans came by and helped tow him to the end. He also went down in Stage 4, but save for those two accidents and some issues with his prosthesis and powershift system, he was otherwise pleased with his performance.

“I have cried multiple times this day,” Munsters commented after the finish.

After missing South Africa because he crashed in testing, Libor Pletka’s W2RC debut was cut short in Morocco as well. He got stuck in the dunes in Stage 2 so often that he “thought I’d stay there forever.” Pletka was so banged up that he had to take IVs since he couldn’t eat or drink, forcing him to miss Stage 3 while recovering. He rejoined for the fourth day but crashed 70 kilometers before the finish and hurt his leg.

“According to every competitor, the race was comparable to Dakar stages, which showed me that I’m not ready to take the start at the 2026 edition,” Pletka opined. “It’s difficult to accept, but it’s a fact. The speed at which these races are run and their lengths were completely different for me than what I’ve done before.

“Unfortunately, as a newbie, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I tried to prepare for the race to my fullest abilities, but it wasn’t sufficient. At least everyone here understood that if I want to take part in other races, it has to be done a little differently.”

Besides Pletka, 14 other riders did not finish. Mathieu Dovèze exited after with a dislocated left shoulder in a Stage 1 accident. Adrien Costes, racing on his own because his brother Paul had to miss the rally with myocarditis, suffered a hematoma when he was thrown off his bike in Stage 4.

Martin Camp’s rally went from smooth to falling apart in Stage 2 when the bike failed to start and had to be jumpstarted by a car, then the rear brake started leaking fluid followed by the front malfunctioning as well; he also got stuck in the dunes with a dead battery, but eventually made it back to the bivouac. The mechanical problems continued over the next two days before knocking him out altogether.

Attirtion took a heavy toll on Nomade Racing as well with Matthieu Cauvin, Clément Dumais, Guillaume Jaunin, and Mathieu Feuvrier exiting. Dumais, the 2019 World Chase Tag champion and a Ninja Warrior France participant, broke his collarbone in the Prologue in an abrupt end to his first W2RC race. Feuvrier had a broken shoulder.

Tragically, the race was overshadowed by the death of Jorge Brandão from injuries sustained in a Stage 5 crash.

Results

FinishOverallNumberRiderTeamTotal TimeMargin
1573Edgar CanetRed Bull KTM Factory Racing16:36:07Leader
2822Michael DochertyBAS World KTM Racing Team16:51:43+ 15:36
3926Konrad DąbrowskiDUUST Rally Team16:52:54+ 16:47
41196Tobias EbsterHero MotoSports17:03:15+ 27:08
51266Neels ThericKove Factory Racing17:04:03+ 27:56
61485Preston CampbellHonda HRC Junior Team17:32:33+ 56:26
715108Ruy BarbosaHT Rally Raid17:41:41+ 1:05:34
81683Khaliunbold ErdenebilegBAS World KTM Racing Team17:53:58+ 1:17:51
91769Alfredo PellicerXraids Experience17:58:07+ 1:22:00
101820Harith NoahSherco TVS Rally Factory Team18:00:09+ 1:24:02
111991Dovydas KarkaHT Rally Raid18:04:09+ 1:28:02
122029Paolo LucciRS Moto18:14:53+ 1:38:46
132165Andro KorlaetXraids Experience18:30:06+ 1:53:59
142339Benjamin MelotEsprit KTM18:40:30+ 2:04:23
152434Emanuel GyenesBAS World KTM Racing Team18:45:27+ 2:09:20
162525Jérôme MartinyAnquety Motor Sport18:56:29+ 2:20:22
172635Bruno SantosBS Frutas Patrícia Pilar18:57:18+ 2:21:11
182744Jeremías PascualPedregà Team18:59:04+ 2:22:57
192884Martim VenturaHonda HRC Junior Team19:05:45+ 2:29:38
202946Arnau LledóPedregà Team19:13:05+ 2:36:58
213031Milan EngelOrion – Moto Racing Group19:16:50+ 2:40:43
223136Tommaso MontanariSolarys Racing19:17:09+ 2:41:02
233260Alonso TrigoXraids Experience19:17:19+ 2:41:12
243397Mathieu GirardNomade Racing19:37:05+ 3:00:58
2534148Tomás de GavardoBAS World KTM Racing Team19:49:19+ 3:13:12
2635120Brandon KrauseBAS World KTM Racing Team19:58:47+ 3:22:40
273640Jérôme BasTeam Universal Ride20:00:15+ 3:24:08
283750Nicolas HoreauxNomade Racing20:18:39+ 3:42:32
2938117Andrea GavaKove Italia20:34:34+ 3:58:27
303955Shinya FujiwaraRS Moto20:56:33+ 4:20:26
314145SunierKove Factory Racing20:59:48+ 4:23:41
324349Juan Santiago RostanXraids Experience21:21:15+ 4:45:08
334448David PabiškaSP Moto Bohemia Racing Team21:30:32+ 4:54:25
344541Baltazar Frezze PissoniXraids Experience21:53:24+ 5:17:17
354688Ian OlthofHT Rally Raid22:03:07+ 5:27:00
364770Marek VierikSlovnaft Rally Team22:20:31+ 5:44:24
374892Jiří BrožBAS World KTM Racing Team22:41:35+ 6:05:28
3849100Leonardo ColaJoyride Race Service22:46:19+ 6:10:12
3950101Iñigo ZardoyaJoyride Race Service23:04:20+ 6:28:13
4051122Pierre PeyrardRS Concept23:18:25+ 6:42:18
415290Pedro PinheiroOld Friends Rally Team23:33:05+ 6:56:58
4253144Guillaune HucherRS Concept23:34:13+ 6:58:06
435443Sebastián UrquíaXraids Experience23:34:56+ 6:58:49
445559Thibault BoucherotNomade Racing24:00:11+ 7:24:04
4556146Andriy PolyukhinStojrent Racing24:05:31+ 7:29:24
4658104Julien RegentJR Team24:25:13+ 7:49:06
4759147Ignas DaunoravičiusOvoko Racing24:31:15+ 7:55:08
4860140Dennis MildenbergerJoyride Race Service24:43:32+ 8:07:25
4961150Benjamin GeorjonNomade Racing24:43:49+ 8:07:42
5062119Joan Carles GuillénPedregà Team25:09:12+ 8:33:05
5164114Charles PickNomade Racing25:59:19+ 9:23:12
5266109Wilfried DagommerRS Concept26:40:57+ 10:04:50
5367107Ricardo LastraOld Friends Rally Team27:01:08+ 10:25:01
546886Fabio BernardiniRally POV27:02:59+ 10:26:52
5569141Loïc TeinturierUniversal Ride27:39:53+ 11:03:46
5670155Paul Roux-dit-BuissonNomade Racing28:23:36+ 11:47:29
5771110Gavin MouritizenHT Rally Raid28:45:59+ 12:09:52
5872156Luca CorradiniBudino Racing28:47:22+ 12:11:15
597362Nuno SilvaOld Friends Rally Team29:22:00+ 12:45:53
6074134Deen MunstersHT Rally Raid31:55:25+ 15:19:18
6175103Adolfo AlonsoPedregà Team32:03:07+ 15:27:00
6276131Pierpaolo VivaldiSolarys Racing33:00:31+ 16:24:24
6377138José Vicente FernandezClub Aventura Touareg33:38:36+ 17:02:29
6478152Johan Wang-changJ6 Performance33:42:41+ 17:06:34
6579151Damien GuenoTeam D34:19:30+ 17:43:23
668061Stéphane PouletChicken Racing Team35:51:34+ 19:15:27
6781160Armando AlonsoPedregà Team38:27:26+ 21:51:19
688364Benjamin PerinetLive in a Rear Wheel41:01:19+ 24:25:12
698463Benjamin PoussetLive in a Rear Wheel41:02:50+ 24:26:43
708689Gabriel BalutXraids Experience43:22:45+ 26:46:38
7187137Jack FielderHappy Rally43:55:18+ 27:19:11
7288132Gary EnnisHappy Rally48:14:07+ 31:38:00
7389129Jatin JainDesert Storm49:17:07+ 32:41:00
749080Pierre LerosierRS Concept54:52:38+ 32:41:00
7591126Federico GhiringhelliSolarys Racing56:48:24+ 40:12:17
NCNC76Alessandro RigoniSolarys RacingNCN/A
NCNC87Guillaume MartinNomade RacingNCN/A
NCNC158Eddy PascoRAW MotorsportsNCN/A
NCNC157Steve PascoRAW MotorsportsNCN/A
NCNC116Milan BrabecOrion – Moto Racing GroupNCN/A
NCNC153Aishwarya PissayAishwarya PissayNCN/A
NCNC125Darren GoodmanNomadas AdventureNCN/A
DNFDNF21Mathieu DovèzeBAS World KTM Racing TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF33Martin CampAMSOIL – Dreams and DustDNFN/A
DNFDNF37Adrien CostesNomade RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF51Matthieu CauvinNomade RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF57Guillaume JauninNomade RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF72Jorge BrandãoOld Friends Rally TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF74Guillem MartinezPedregà TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF78Mathieu FeuvrierNomade RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF82Guillaume RosierRS ConceptDNFN/A
DNFDNF106Clément DumaisNomade RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF111August CastelláPedregà TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF115Libor PletkaCajdašrot TeamDNFN/A
DNFDNF139José FloresPepe Flory Rider Europe con DiabetesDNFN/A
DNFDNF145Olivier LeteNomade RacingDNFN/A
DNFDNF154José Daniel MirandaXraids ExperienceDNFN/A
* – Not competing for World Rally-Raid Championship
Bold – Junior Trophy
Italics – Veteran Trophy
Underscore – Woman Trophy

Stage winners

StageOverallRiderTime
Prologue5Michael Docherty13:03.7
Stage 12Edgar Canet3:06:01
Stage 27Michael Docherty3:38:50
Stage 35Michael Docherty3:45:40
Stage 46Konrad Dąbrowski3:04:38
Stage 54Michael Docherty2:28:56

W2RC

Riders

RankRiderPointsMargin
1Edgar Canet113Leader
2Tobias Ebster79– 34
3Michael Docherty78– 35
4Konrad Dąbrowski61– 52
5Ruy Barbosa35– 78
6Neels Theric26– 87
7Romain Dumontier24– 89
T-8Preston Campbell23– 90
T-8Bruno Santos23– 90
10Toni Mulec20– 93
11Martim Ventura19– 94
12Alfredo Pellicer18– 95
13Khaliunbold Erdenebileg17– 96
14Harith Noah15– 98
15Andro Korlaet13– 100
16Dušan Drdaj12– 101
17Toby Hederics11– 102
T-18Florian Bancilhon10– 103
T-18Dwain Barnard10– 103
T-18Emanuel Gyenes10– 103
T-18Benjamin Melot10– 103
T-18Juan Rostan Santiago10– 103
T-23Arnau Lledó9– 104
T-23Mauritz Meiring9– 104
T-25Hamdan Al-Ali8– 105
T-25David Pabiška8– 105
27Thomas Childs7– 106
T-28Jacob Argubright6– 107
T-28Milan Engel6– 107
T-28Filip Grot6– 107
T-28Paolo Lucci6– 107
T-28Mattia Riva6– 107
T-28Joël van Mechelen6– 107
T-34Markus Hertlein5– 108
T-34Matthieu Jauffraud5– 108
T-34Dovydas Karka5– 108
T-34Pedro Pinheiro5– 108
T-38Jorge Brandão4– 109
T-38Justin Gerlach4– 109
T-38Marshall Méplon4– 109
T-38Anthony Raynard4– 109
T-38Sebastián Urquía4– 109
T-38Abdul Wahid4– 109
T-44Jiří Brož3– 110
T-44Massimo Camurri3– 110
T-44Martin Chalmers3– 110
T-44Tomás de Gavardo3– 110
T-44Jatin Jain3– 110
T-44Jérôme Martiny3– 110
T-44Tommaso Montanari3– 110
T-44Ian Olthof3– 110
T-44Jaromír Romančík3– 110
T-44Sunier3– 110
T-54Ahmed Al-Jaber2– 111
T-54Francisco Álvarez2– 111
T-54Francisco Arredondo2– 111
T-54Clément Artaud2– 111
T-54Willem Avenant2– 111
T-54Damien Bataller2– 111
T-54Fabio Bernardini2– 111
T-54Max Bianucci2– 111
T-54Vasilis Boudros2– 111
T-54Benjamin Bourdariat2– 111
T-54Jan Brabec2– 111
T-54David Brock2– 111
T-54Marc Calmet2– 111
T-54David Casteu2– 111
T-54Guillaume Chollet2– 111
T-54Leonardo Cola2– 111
T-54Álvaro Cóppola2– 111
T-54Julien Dalbec2– 111
T-54Ignas Daunoravičius2– 111
T-54Fabien Domas2– 111
T-54Mathieu Dovèze2– 111
T-54Rafic Eid2– 111
T-54Xavier Flick2– 111
T-54Arūnas Gelažninkas2– 111
T-54Philippe Gendron2– 111
T-54Jérémie Gerber2– 111
T-54Sandra Gómez2– 111
T-54Charlie Herbst2– 111
T-54Óscar Hernández2– 111
T-54James Hillier2– 111
T-54Zhao Hongyi2– 111
T-54Tiziano Internó2– 111
T-54Nerimantas Jucius2– 111
T-54Thomas Kongshøj2– 111
T-54Ricardo Lastra2– 111
T-54Manuel Lucchese2– 111
T-54Simon Marčič2– 111
T-54Zhang Min2– 111
T-54Jeremy Miroir2– 111
T-54Ottavio Missoni Jr.2– 111
T-54Jim Moisa2– 111
T-54Axel Mustad2– 111
T-54Gad Nachmani2– 111
T-54Mykolas Paulavičius2– 111
T-54Adam Peschel2– 111
T-54Maxime Pouponnot2– 111
T-54Benjamin Pousset2– 111
T-54Martin Prokeš2– 111
T-54Murun Purevdorj2– 111
T-54Jean-Philippe Révolte2– 111
T-54Ignacio Sanchis2– 111
T-54Modestas Siliunas2– 111
T-54Nuno Silva2– 111
T-54Edvard Sokolovskij2– 111
T-54Jordan Strachan2– 111
T-54Bartłomiej Tabin2– 111
T-54Javi Vega2– 111
T-54Joan Viñals2– 111
T-54Robbie Wallace2– 111
T-54Mike Wiedemann2– 111
T-54Andrea Winkler2– 111
T-54Fang Xiangliang2– 111
T-54Iñigo Zardoya2– 111
T-117Armando Alonso1– 112
T-117Adolfo Alonso1– 112
T-117Gabriel Balut1– 112
T-117Jérôme Bas1– 112
T-117Thibault Boucherot1– 112
T-117Dominique Cizeau1– 112
T-117Luca Corradini1– 112
T-117Wilfried Dagommer1– 112
T-117Gary Ennis1– 112
T-117Jack Fielder1– 112
T-117Baltazar Frezze Pissoni1– 112
T-117Shinya Fujiwara1– 112
T-117Benjamin Georjon1– 112
T-117Federico Ghiringhelli1– 112
T-117Mathieu Girard1– 112
T-117Xavier Gregoire1– 112
T-117Damien Gueno1– 112
T-117Massimiliano Guerrini1– 112
T-117Joan Carles Guillén1– 112
T-117Guillaune Hucher1– 112
T-117Srdan Jablan1– 112
T-117Jason Joslin1– 112
T-117Kees Koolen1– 112
T-117Brandon Krause1– 112
T-117Pierre Lerosier1– 112
T-117Mathieu Liebaert1– 112
T-117Martin Lourens1– 112
T-117John Medina1– 112
T-117Alessandro Mendoza1– 112
T-117Ludwig Messager1– 112
T-117Dennis Mildenberger1– 112
T-117Gustavo Milutín1– 112
T-117Gavin Mouritizen1– 112
T-117Deen Munsters1– 112
T-117Jeremías Pascual1– 112
T-117Benjamin Perinet1– 112
T-117Pierre Peyrard1– 112
T-117Charles Pick1– 112
T-117Aishwarya Pissay1– 112
T-117Andriy Polyukhin1– 112
T-117Stéphane Poulet1– 112
T-117Yugandhar Prasad Jasti1– 112
T-117Robert Przybyłowski1– 112
T-117Nathan Rafferty1– 112
T-117Julien Regent1– 112
T-117Paul Roux-dit-Buisson1– 112
T-117Tony Schattat1– 112
T-117Craig Searles1– 112
T-117Carl Searles1– 112
T-117Loïc Teinturier1– 112
T-117Alexandre Torrão1– 112
T-117Alonso Trigo1– 112
T-117José Vicente Fernandez1– 112
T-117Marek Vierik1– 112
T-117Pierpaolo Vivaldi1– 112
T-117Johan Wang-chang1– 112
T-117Blas Zapag1– 112

Junior Trophy

RankRiderPointsMargin
1Edgar Canet113Leader
2Konrad Dąbrowski95– 18
3Justin Gerlach46– 67
4Martim Ventura42– 71
5Alfredo Pellicer36– 77
6Fang Xiangling24– 89
7Arnau Lledó23– 90
8Filip Grot16– 97
9Jeremías Pascual13– 100
10Baltazar Frezze Pissoni9– 104
11Marek Vierik8– 105

Veteran Trophy

RankRiderPointsMargin
1David Pabiška88Leader
2Sebastián Urquía71– 17
3David Brock33– 55
4Bartłomiej Tabin30– 58
T-5Jatin Jain25– 63
T-5Kees Koolen25– 63
7Philippe Gendron24– 64
8Ricardo Lastra24– 64
9Nuno Silva21– 67
T-10Jorge Brandão20– 68
T-10Álvaro Cóppola20– 68
T-10Nathan Rafferty20– 68
13Fabien Domas17– 71
T-14Dominique Cizeau16– 72
T-14Dennis Mildenberger16– 72
T-14Robert Przybyłowski16– 72
17Zhang Min15– 73
18David Casteu14– 74
T-19Xavier Gregoire13– 75
T-19Massimiliano Guerrini13– 75
21Gad Nachmani12– 76
T-22Rafic Eid11– 77
T-22Martin Lourens11– 77
T-22Gavin Mouritizen11– 77
T-25Óscar Hernández9– 79
T-25Yugandhar Prasad Jasti9– 79
T-25Pierpaolo Vivaldi9– 79
T-28Francisco Arredondo8– 80
T-28Stéphane Poulet8– 80
30Benjamin Perinet7– 81
T-31Gary Ennis6– 82
T-31Ignacio Sanchis6– 82
33Pierre Lerosier4– 84
34Federico Ghiringhelli3– 85

Women Trophy

RankRiderPointsMargin
1Sandra Gómez38Leader
2Aishwarya Pissay25– 13

Teams

RankTeamPointsMargin
1BAS World KTM Racing Team127Leader
2Xraids Experience65– 62
3SRG Motorsports41– 86
T-4DUUST Rally Team37– 90
T-4HT Rally Raid37– 90
6Honda HRC Junior Team31– 96
7Kove Factory Racing12– 115
8Joyride Race Service10– 117
T-9Nomade Racing6– 121
T-9Pedregà Team6– 121
T-11Fantic Rally Team4– 123
T-11Nomadas Adventure4– 123
T-13AG Dakar School2– 125
T-13Supesunr Team2– 125
T-13Team Casteu Trophy2– 125

Featured image credit: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool

Leave a comment