The 2025 South African Rally-Raid Championship might be starting somewhat later than usual, but the spotlight has been on Rally-Raid racing in South Africa for the past six months since the announcement of the first ever SA Safari Rally, round three of the World Rally-Raid Championship, and the global focus has been on South Africa with multitude of international teams competing on two and four wheels in this prestigious event that took place over six days from Sun City in the North-West Province.
The SA Safari Rally, brought to you by Toyota Gazoo Racing, made history as a round of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) after the country last hosted the final section of the 1992 Paris-Cape Town (Dakar) Rally. The world’s top teams and riders travelled to South Africa to not only compete in the third round of the W2RC, but to experience South Africa that has established itself as a leader in this championship due to the number of formidable vehicles that are designed, developed and manufactured locally as well as the talented competitors who have proven themselves to be on par with the best in the world.
A total of 95 entrants lined up for the 2025 SA Safari Rally which included 36 teams in the Ultimate Car Class and 37 riders in the motorcycle category. Amongst the crème dela crème in the car category, were former multiple Dakar Rally winners, Nasser Al-Attiya, Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma alongside Sebastian Loeb, Lucas Moraes, Seth Quintero, Mathieu Serradori and Martin Prokop.
The South African entrants did the country proud, as 13 teams took on the six-day race which stretched over more than 2 600 kilometres. Toyota Gazoo Racing, who partnered with the event, had no less than seven Toyota DKR Hilux vehicles in the field (including the international teams of Moraes and Quintero) while there were seven Red-Lined Racing vehicles; four Century Racing vehicles and two WCT VW Amarok’s in the mix.
The SA Safari Rally will go down as an extremely tough and challenging event with a route that tested competitors and their machines to the limit. Dry and dusty conditions combined with wet and muddy sections, while the technical bushveld and savannah terrain differed vastly from most other rounds in the W2RC, necessitated competitors to adjust and keep their wits about them to get to the finish. And to top it all, a cold spell halfway through the event saw temperatures plummet adding to the challenge, making it an event most will not easily forget.
The lead at the front of the race changed a few times and in the end it was the South African crew, the multiple SA Rally-Raid champions, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings (Toyota GR DKR Hilux Evo), who finished as the runners-up at the 2025 Dakar Rally, who made South Africa proud when they beat the nine-time World Rally Champion, Frenchman Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders) by just over half a minute to claim the trophy. Brazil’s Moraes rounded out the overall podium putting two locally built vehicles on the overall podium.
Another set of former SARR champions, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (NWM Evo Plus) finished fourth overall while the WCT VW Amarok team of regular German competitor, Daniel Schröder and local navigator, Henry Köhne, were also in the top ten. They were eighth making it four SA built vehicles and five SA competitors finishing in the top 10. Al-Attiya and his navigator, Edouard Boulanger (The Dacia Sandriders) claimed two stage wins while SA heroes Lategan/Cummings, Guy Botterill/Dennis Murphy and Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet), all competing with the Toyota GR DKR Hilux Evo, won the rest of the stages.
Archie Rutherford, CEO of the SA Rally-Raid Championship, stated that organizing the SA Safari Rally was a massive task.
“We are receiving such positive feedback from the FIA, FIM and ASO, the organisers of the annual Dakar Rally as well as the esteemed international clientele and are extremely proud of the end result,” he continued. “This was a first experience for us, and it was a resounding success, with our focus now firmly on maintaining and building our local championship,” Rutherford said.
Abnormal weather conditions including extreme heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures as well as unprecedented rainfall in the North-West and Limpopo Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal resulted in widespread floods that impacted local communities and infrastructure, which added to the tension during the build-up to the SA Safari Rally.
The intense rain brought about delays with the route preparation for the international event and the result of the amount of rain could still be seen on route in an area that is characterized by dry conditions.
The unusual weather conditions during the first four months of the year also affected the start of the 2025 SA Rally-Raid Championship with the opening round, the PS Laser 400, that was scheduled to take place in March in the Vryheid area in KwaZulu-Natal, having to be postponed due to flooding while the second round, that was earmarked to take place in Thabazimbi, also in jeopardy due of the aftermath of the heavy rain the area had received.
The SARRC season will now get underway on 27 and 28 June when local and international competitors will return to Legends Adventure Farm on the R515 Rhino Park between Pretoria and Bronkhorstspruit for round one of the season.
This venue and race proved to be very popular during the 2024 season and while competitors will get an opportunity to tackle the route during the dry winter season in Gauteng, spectators will be able to experience the racing action and support their heroes.
Published by: Charmaine Fortune
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
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