Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah heads 54-car entry on new six-day event
South Africa joins the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) for the first time with the Sun City-based South African Safari Rally, which is being organised by the SA Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC), on May 18th-24th.
The inaugural third round of the W2RC has attracted 54 entries in the FIA section, with 36 competing in the Ultimate category, seven in Challenger and 11 in SSV. Of those, 29 are registered for points in the W2RC.
Defending champion and five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah tops the impressive field in the Ultimate section alongside a host of world class rivals from Toyota GAZOO Racing, Overdrive Racing, the X-Raid Mini JCW Team, Ford M-Sport, Red-Lined and Century Racing.
Al-Attiyah and Boulanger arrive in Sun City with a 23-point advantage in both the Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships. But their closest Dakar Rally-winning rivals, Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, remain on the sidelines after sustaining back injuries at the Jordan Baja last month. Al-Attiyah picked up W2RC points for finishing fourth at the Dakar Rally and maximum points for winning the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Toyota GAZOO Racing’s Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón are, therefore, their closest challengers in the five-round series, albeit 33 points behind the Dacia Sandrider driver and his French navigator. Moraes finished as runner-up to Al-Attiyah in Abu Dhabi.
Toyotas dominate the upper reaches of the entry list with additional Hiluxes for American Seth Quintero and South African Henk Lategan, who currently hold fourth and fifth in the points’ standings with their respective co-drivers Dennis Zenz and Brett Cummings.
Toyota GAZOO Racing is currently 70 points clear of Dacia and 89 in front of Ford M-Sport in the W2RC Manufacturers’ Championship.
Nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb teams up with Fabian Lurquin to crew the second of the Dacia Sandriders, while Spanish veterans, Carlos Sainz and Joan Roma, are joined by Lucas Cruz and Alex Haro in the two Ford M-Sport Ford Raptors, as M-Sport rotate their driver line-up before bidding to win the Dakar again in 2026.
Defending FIA European Baja Cup champions, João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, and Belgian driver Guillaume de Mévius and team-mate Xavier Panseri crew the two X-Raid JCW Minis. De Mévius tackles the event with petrol power and Ferreira opts for the diesel version. The latter is currently ninth in the Drivers’ Championship.
Overdrive Racing fields Toyota Hiluxes for Juan Cruz Yacopini, Denis Krotov, Hernan Garces and Akira Miura, although the latter duo are not registered for W2RC points. The South African trio of veteran Giniel de Villiers, Guy Botterill and Saood Variawa also drive versions of the South African-built Toyota Hilux IMT. De Villiers won the Dakar Rally back in 2009 but is not registered for this year’s W2RC.
Century Racing fields C7s for Brian Baragwanath, Mattieu Serradori and Dutch privateer Rik Van der Brink and there are additional W2RC-registered Ultimate entries for Czech Martin Prokop (Ford Raptor RS Cross-Country), Dave Klaassen (Red-Lined Revo) and Daniel Schröder (Volkswagen WCT Amarok).
Cavigliasso and Pertegarini look to extend Challenger leads
Only seven Challenger crews have made the trip to South Africa but all of them are chasing W2RC points. Nicolas Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini are the top seeds in their BBR Motorsport Taurus T3 Max and the Argentine will be aiming to defend an 11-point lead over fellow Taurus pilot Pau Navarro in the Drivers’ Championship.
With Yasir Seaidan and Gonçalo Guerreiro both absent from the event, fourth-placed Saudi Dania Akeel will be looking to close the gap on the leading duo with her French navigator Stéphane Duplé in a third Taurus.
Adam Kus (Taurus), Puck Klaassen (OT3) and Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (Taurus) currently hold sixth, ninth and 10th in the Drivers’ Championship and will be chasing points alongside Argentina’s David Zille.
Portugal’s Pinto and Oliveira set to defend SSV advantages
Portugal’s Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira currently hold 11 and 61-point leads in their respective SSV Drivers’ and Navigators’ Championships and top an 11-car SSV field, of whom just five are chasing W2RC points.
The Italian duo of Enrico Gaspari (MMP Can-Am) and Michele Cinotto (CST Xtreme Plus Polaris) are Pinto’s closest title challengers after two rounds, while French veteran Claude Fournier has also made the long trip to Sun City and holds fourth in the rankings. Portugal’s Mario Franco is the fifth registered SSV driver. Gaspari’s navigator Fausto Mota is Oliveira’s closest challenger for the Navigators’ Championship.
Non-registered drivers include the British trio of Graham Knight, George Halles and Richard Aczel, Portugal’s JoséNogueira and the Spanish duo of Domingo Roman and Ignacio Gayoso.
The route
The new round of the W2RC is based at Sun City, around 173km from Johannesberg, in the foothills of the Pilanesberg National Park and features 1,218 competitive kilometres in a route of 2,645km.
The nine-kilometre Prologue to determine the starting order for the opening stage will be held on Monday, May 19th to the west of Sun City. Teams will then tackle a stage of 262km on Tuesday, May 20th to the southwest of Sun City that loops through off-road terrain to the east of Lichtenberg and crosses sand tracks and agricultural farmland.
Stage two (352km) forms the first part of the two-day Marathon stage and sees crews leaving Sun City en route for a Marathon bivouac in Stella. The first part runs through Barberspan’s open savannah and an off-piste section to the bivouac, where accurate navigation will be key. The second section of 253km heads north of Stella to finish close to the frontier with Botswana after faster sections and more tricky navigation.
The fourth and penultimate stage on Friday, May 23rd runs for 224km along remote tracks close to the frontier with Botswana and the towns of Dinokana and Skilpadshek, to the far west of Sun City. The stage features technical bushveld with rocky and demanding mountain sections.
The final stage of 118km on Saturday, May 24th loops through open farmland with choking red dust to the southeast of Sun City.
2025 South African Safari Rally – entry list:
Ultimate
200. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider
203. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota GR DKR Hilux
204. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (GER) Toyota GR DKR Hilux
205. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota GR DKR Hilux
206. Giniel de Villiers (RSA)/Leander Pienaar (RSA) Toyota Hilux IMT*
207. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive
208. Brian Baragwanath (RSA)/Leonard Cremer (RSA) Century CR7
209. Mattieu Serradori (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) Century CR7-T
210. Rik Van Den Brink (NED)/Gydo Heimans (NED) Century CR7*
211. Guy Botterill (RSA)/Dennis Murphy (RSA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
212. Saood Variawa (RSA)/François Cazalet (FRA) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo
217. Denis Krotov (KGZ)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (ISR) Toyota Hilux Overdrive
218. Hernan Garces (CHL)/Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL) Toyota Hilux Overdrive*
219. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider
220. Akira Miura (JPN)/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive*
221. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor RS
222. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i
223. Rients Hofstra (NED)/Wade Harris (RSA) Red-Lined Revo GTR*
225. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz (ESP) Ford Raptor
227. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor
229. Jayden Els (RSA)/Johan Swemmer (RSA) Red-Lined Revo GTR*
230. Dave Klaassen (NED)/Tessa Klaassen (NED) Red-Lined Revo
231. Philip Botha (RSA)/Roelof Janse Van Vuren (RSA) Red-Lined Revo T1+*
232. Danie Ludick (RSA)/Denzil Williamson (RSA) Red-Lined Revo T1+*
233. Gerhardt Heinlein (RSA)/Rudi Heinlein (RSA) Red-Lined VK56*
234. Nickus Heinlein (RSA)/Jaco Kriel (RSA) Red-Lined VK50*
235. Benôit Fretin (FRA)/Cédric Duplé (FRA) Century CR6*
239. Fouche Blignaut (RSA)/Bertus Blignaut (RSA) Toyota Hilux DKR*
240. João Ferreira (POR)/Filipe Palmeiro (POR) Mini JCW Rally 3.0d
242. Daniel Schröder (GER)/Carl Henri Köhne (RSA) Volkswagen WCT Amarok
243. Jürgen Schröder (GER)/Stuart Gregory (RSA) Volkswagen WCT Amarok*
244. Johan Van Staden (RSA)/Sean Van Staden (RSA) Renault Duster*
245. Jan Kraaij (AUS)/Gerhard Schutte (RSA) Century CR6*
269. Johan de Bruyn (RSA)/Adriaan Roets (RSA) Red-Lined VK56*
276. Marcos Baumgart (BRA)/Kleber Cincea (BRA) Evo Plus*
277. Gareth Woolridge (RSA)/Boyd Dreyer (RSA) Evo Plus*
Challenger
301. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentina Pertegarini (ARG) Taurus T3 Max
302. Puck Klaassen (RSA)/Charan Moore (RSA) G Rally Team OT3
305. Adam Kus (POL)/Dmytro Tsyro (UKR) Taurus T3 Max
306. Khalifa Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Bruno Jacomy (ITA) Taurus T3 Max
308. David Zille (ARG)/Sebastian Cesana (ARG) Taurus T3 Max
310. Dania Akeel (KSA)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Taurus T3 Max
320. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Jan Rosa Vinas (ESP) Taurus T3 Max
SSV
401. Alexandre Pinto (POR)/Bernardo Oliveira (POR) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR
402. Enrico Gaspari (ITA)/Fausto Mota (POR) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR
403. Michele Cinotto (ITA)/Maurizio Dominella (ITA) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport
404. Claude Fournier (FRA)/Patrick Jimbert (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR
407. Mario Franco (POR)/João Miranda (POR) Can-Am Maverick R
410. Graham Knight (GBR)/David Watson (GBR) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport*
411. George Halles (GBR)/Max Delfino (ITA) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport*
413. José Nogueira (POR)/Arcelio Couto (POR) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR*
414. Richard Aczel (GBR)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED) Can-Am Maverick R*
415. Domingo Roman (ESP)/Alberto Herrero (ESP) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport*
416. Ignacio Gayoso (ESP)/Ramiro Santiago (ESP) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport*
*denotes not registered for the W2RC
Timetable of events
Saturday, May 17
Administration checks Admin office, Sun City – 12.00hrs-17.00hrs
Scrutineering TBA, Sun City – 13.00hrs-18.00hrs
Pre-event press conference TBA, 19.00hrs
Sunday, May 18
Administration checks Admin office, Sun City – 07.00hrs-16.00hrs
Scrutineering TBA, Sun City – 08.30hrs-19.30hrs
Pre-event press conference TBA, Sun City – 19.00hrs
Monday, May 19
Ceremonial start Sun City – 10.00hrs-12.00hrs
Prologue – 9km Pilanesberg – 12.00hrs-17.00hrs
Tuesday, May 20
Stage 1 – 262km Sun City to Sun City
Wednesday, May 21
Stage 2 – 352km Sun City to Marathon Bivouac, Stella (part 1)
Thursday, May 22
Stage 3 – 253km Marathon Bivouac, Stella to Sun City (part 2)
Friday, May 23
Stage 4 – 224km Sun City to Sun City
Saturday, May 24
Stage 5 – 118km Sun City to Sun City
Ceremonial finish Sun City – TBA
Post-event press conference TBA, Sun City – 19.30hrs
Prizegiving ceremony TBA – 20.00hrs