- Run on a loop stretching for 694 km (including 224 km against the clock), stage 4 was the longest of the South African Safari Rally.
- The car race saw another clean sweep for Toyota, their third of the rally. Saood Variawa took the stage win, while Henk Lategan clawed his way back into the overall lead. Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders), who started the day on top, slipped to second, albeit just 39 seconds down.
- David Zille (BBR Motorsport) bagged the Challenger special and tightened his grip on the overall lead. Mário Franco (Francosport) is powering toward overall victory too in SSV, while Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally Team) claimed the stage.
- Another double delight for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in the motorbike category, with Daniel Sanders storming to victory in RallyGP and Edgar Canet in Rally2. Both men inched closer to glory.
- Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder Racing) came out on top in the quad race, but Gaëtan Martinez remains ensconced in the lead on the eve of the finale.
- Everything is still to play for going into stage 5, a 222 km romp featuring 111 km against the clock that will bring down the curtain on the inaugural edition of the rally. Follow the final dash to the line on the Race Center from 8:35 am.
FIA: Lategan back in the pole position
After Dacia landed a one-two punch yesterday (with Nasser Al Attiyah taking the stage and Sébastien Loeb moving into the lead), Toyota hit back with a double on their own, echoing their dominance in stages 1 and 2. Saood Variawa brought it home for Toyota Gazoo Racing, following in the slipstream of Guy Botterill and Henk Lategan. The 19-year-old sensation clinched the win by 58 seconds over Guillaume de Mévius, who gave Mini their strongest performance of the week. Guy Botterill edged out Daniel Schröder (PS Laser Racing) at the wire, finishing 1′19″ adrift of his teammate. Seventh place in the stage was enough for Lategan to reclaim the lead, a position he last held after stage 1. Loeb could only manage eighth on the day and relinquished the top spot, now 39 seconds down. De Mévius climbed onto the provisional podium (+2′41″), just ahead of fellow Hilux drivers Seth Quintero (+2′48″) and Lucas Moraes (+2′59″). A mere 3 minutes separate the top 5! Everything is still to play for tomorrow. Even Carlos Sainz, seventh (+4′27″), remains in contention. With a favourable sixteenth-place start, the Ford Raptor driver could still throw a spanner in the works. Yesterday's winner, Al Attiyah lost time early in the stage. The Qatari now sits tenth, nearly 14 minutes behind Lategan, and would need a miracle to repeat his Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge triumph here.
CHALLENGER: Hat-trick for Zille
David Zille claimed his third stage win of the week, leading a clean sweep of the top 4 for BBR Motorsport: 1′38″ ahead of Pau Navarro, 2′05″ over Dania Akeel and 2′40″ in front of Nicolás Cavigliasso. The result bolstered his overall ambitions, expanding his lead over fellow Argentinian Cavigliasso to 5′36″. Adam Kuś (Akpol Recykling Team) retained third place, now 16′39″ from the Albiceleste leader.
SSV: Carnation celebration
Thirsting for revenge after his earlier mechanical problems, Alexandre Pinto went back to his winning ways despite a solid performance by Enrico Gaspari (MMP), 2′43″ down. One Portuguese topped the special and another one the overall: Mário Franco has built up a virtually unassailable lead of 45′31″ over Michele Cinotto and his Polaris CST Xtreme Plus. Pinto snatched third place among W2RC entrants from the veteran Claude Fournier (MMP).
FIM: Sanders soars to unprecedented heights
Not even the challenge of opening the road on his own seems to be enough to slow Daniel Sanders down this season. The fastest beekeeper on Earth won from the front for the second time in a row, making short work of the Honda duo of Adrien Van Beveren (+1′51″) and Skyler Howes (+1′58″). This marks his eleventh RallyGP victory of 2025, a new single-season record, surpassing the ten victories claimed by his teammate Luciano Benavides in 2023 and by Tosha Schareina last season with Monster Energy Honda HRC. Sanders now leads the overall by 7′01″ over Benavides. The battle for the final podium place is turning into a nail-biter, with Ricky Brabec (+10′50″) under pressure from his Honda teammate Van Beveren (+11′15″). The Frenchman is just 25 seconds away from knocking the American off the third step!
RALLY 2: Canet one step closer to redemption
Edgar Canet continues to turn heads. Fourth outright in the FIM standings, the Spanish phenomenon claimed yet another Rally2 stage win, this time finishing 1′58″ ahead of Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports) and 6′20″ up on local Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM). After winning the Dakar but crashing out of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Canet looks poised to complete his redemption arc with a triumphant performance in South Africa. He sits 20′14″ ahead of Ebster and 27′28″ clear of Docherty.
QUADS: Kanopkinas on the double
CFMoto Thunder Racing is heading for a clean sweep this week, with its riders winning every stage so far. After Gaëtan Martinez grabbed the prologue and stages 1 and 3, Antanas Kanopkinas has now made it two for himself, adding today's stage win to his tally from stage 2. The Lithuanian crossed the line 4′48″ ahead of his teammate, who sits comfortably atop the overall with a 19′23″ buffer. Barring disaster, he is on course for his maiden W2RC triumph. The local Carien Teessen rounds out the provisional podium.
SCHEDULE:
- 24 May: stage 5 — Sun City–Sun City (road section: 111 km / special: 111 km / total: 222 km)
