One day to go until the prologue of the South African Safari Rally, the first-ever W2RC round set in the African savannah. It will span 2,641 km, including 1,222 km against the clock.
Following the administrative and technical scrutineering, 95 vehicles (including 70 W2RC entries) have been cleared to start tomorrow. The 29 FIA championship entrants consist of 17 crews in Ultimate, 7 in Challenger and 5 in SSV. The 41-strong FIM field, automatically entered into the W2RC, is made up of 9 riders in RallyGP, 28 in Rally2 and 4 in quads.
Over the past two days, the test tracks set up by the organiser have given the numerous entrants who have never raced in South Africa before a sneak peek of what the race has in store for them. Local specialists, with their intimate knowledge of the terrain, will make life hard for the W2RC front-runners.
The prologue will open proceedings tomorrow at 1 pm (UTC+2). Live coverage will be provided on the Race Center HERE. From 7 pm, the ten fastest competitors will get to pick their starting positions for Tuesday's stage 1.
The permanent bivouac set up at the entrance to the Sun City resort has already plunged the teams into the safari spirit awaiting them. In the shade of the acacia trees where visitors seek refuge from the sun, monkeys are on the lookout for the slightest opportunity to snatch a W2RC souvenir!
FIA: Bush bars mandatory
Race partners Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa will be racing on home turf. The Hiluxes of Saood Variawa and Guy Botterill rolled into technical scrutineering decked out in solid beige paint in a nod to the iconic Land Cruiser safari livery, designed to blend into the savannah. Cars across the bivouac sport funny-looking tubular windscreen guards stretching from the bonnet up over the roof, designed to deflect branches overhead. These add-ons are crucial in South Africa, where they are known as "bush bars". The wide-bodied T1+ cars will have their work cut out for them penetrating the vegetation, which has grown all over the place thanks to recent showers. During the pre-race shakedown, competitors also came face to face with another local quirk: the narrow ruts carved out by local farmers' vehicles and the fences running tight alongside them. They will be skimming past these barriers with barely a whisker to spare. Old-timers have already warned that raw speed will not be as important as dodging South Africa's unique set of traps when it comes to determining the outcome of the race. On that note, Nasser Al Attiyah has a stat of his own to defend (see Did you know?). Despite their familiarity with the terrain, the South African competitors are also stepping into uncharted territory: a five-stage format, far longer than the usual two-day sprints of their national championship, with a marathon stage thrown into the mix next Wednesday. It will also mark their return to competition, as the seven-round South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) has yet to get under way after being pushed back to June due to downpours in recent weeks.
FIM: From the desert to the savannah
The local motorbike scene is not as developed as it is in the car category. Indeed, two-wheelers do not share a national championship with the cars in South Africa. While South Africans make up the majority of the entry list (see Did you know?), they are far fewer in number than their four-wheeled counterparts, who benefit from the safety of the bodywork. The main reason is fairly straightforward and comes down to that crucial bit of kit: the cockpit. When it comes to tourism in South Africa, safari is king. The riders, making the most of the downtime between testing and scrutineering, seized the chance to go on what locals call a game drive, a guided tour by vehicle with a seasoned and hopefully lucky tracker, aimed at spotting the legendary Big Five, the most iconic animals in the savannah, with the lions taking pride of place. On a safari, the goal is to see as many wild animals as possible… but that is definitely not the aim of the South African Safari Rally! Starting tomorrow, riders will be hoping for the exact opposite: to encounter as few animals as possible out on the stages. That way, they can stay fully focused on what will be a wholly new navigation challenge in the savannah, where the usual W2RC reference points are often nowhere to be found. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), the reigning world number one and a native of neighbouring Botswana, along with local hopes Bradley Cox (on his first outing as a Sherco factory rider) and Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM Racing), fresh off a Rally2 win in Abu Dhabi, all enjoy the advantage of knowing what to expect. What Branch and Cox had to say about it speaks volumes…
DID YOU KNOW?
FIA: Al Attiyah gets it right first time, every time Every time since 2022 that Nasser Al Attiyah has taken on a W2RC round for the first time, he has walked away with the win: the Sonora Rally and Desafío Ruta 40 in 2023, followed by the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in 2024. If he can pull it off again here, the South African Safari Rally would be his fourth successful debut on the bounce… FIM: 20% of South African riders 8 of the 41 motorbike riders cleared to start are South African. Argentina and France are both fielding half that number (4), followed by the US, Chile and India with 3 representatives apiece. Boasting the most numerous contingent at a W2RC event is a first for both the Rainbow Nation and Africa as a whole.
QUOTES:
Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing), reigning SARRC champion: "I'm really happy to be back behind the wheel of a race car. I want to thank Toyota Europe and Overdrive Racing. I only got back in the driver's seat two days ago because I hadn't driven since the Dakar, and I had a huge smile on my face the day before yesterday. I really like the type of tracks and racing that await us here, but I don't think my knowledge of the terrain is a big advantage. Strategy will play a major role, just like at the Dakar. It's a very tricky region and you can quickly find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I believe in myself. I have a good car and the right state of mind, so I have a good shot."
Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing), lining up for his first rally raid in South Africa: "I’m glad we’re switching from the dunes of Abu Dhabi to this kind of terrain, it’s going to shake things up. I think it's going to be a tough race for everyone, where it'll be all too easy to make a mistake and hit an obstacle on the side. The cars are very wide and designed with the open desert in mind. Things are very tight here, as in parts of Brazil. I hope to gain something from the experience."
Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders), lining up for his first rally raid in South Africa: "We drove on a test base and, during the shakedown, we explored tracks that turned out to be really fast and really narrow for our cars, squeezing past fences, with hidden crossroads you never see coming at 150 km/h. It's easy to miss an intersection, and what's on the other side is not always great. We'll need to stay on top of our notes to avoid getting caught off guard. I was expecting tracks with more natural curves, but here everything seems drawn with a set square. But we only recced 25 km of local tracks, the whole rally shouldn't be like this. Our aim is to get a feel for the terrain. We'll see how it goes."
Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders), championship leader, gets it right first time, every time: "I think the rally is going to throw us a curveball. As in any other new rally, days 1 and 2 will be spent understanding the terrain, not least because the marathon comes in stage 2 and you need to finish stage 3 close to the other contenders to be in a position to attack over the last two days. My top priority is harvesting championship points, but we're in it to win it!"
Carlos Sainz (Ford M-Sport), lining up for his first rally raid in South Africa: "We've spent the last few days trying to understand the challenge ahead, but we're still in wait-and-see mode at the moment. We've tried to fine-tune the car on the shakedown tracks, but I don't know what to expect in the coming days. I've never raced in this country before either, so it's a riddle wrapped in a mystery. But this is par for the course for rally raids, you never know what the day ahead will bring."
Mathieu Serradori (Century Racing SRT), has already competed in the SARRC: "I've been racing for Johannesburg-based Century since 2020. We already entered a national championship round. The terrain is a world apart from what we are used to, with red dirt. It can be wide open, with sections where you can shift into fifth or sixth gear, and it can also be a maze with vegetation and low-lying branches where you're glad you brought your safari kit along, your navigation skills are pushed to the limit and pitfalls lurk behind every corner. Underestimate the drivers in the national championship at your own peril, as guys like Lategan and Botterill showed at the latest Dakar. As for me, I'll be counting on my teammate Brian Baragwanath, who's eager to shine."
Puck Klaassen (GRally Team), sole local driver in the Challenger class: "I entered three national championship rounds last season, I've got to know some regions, but not all the places we're scheduled to visit. I reckon our Challengers will be competitive because the course will be technical and really tight for the T1+ cars. I only took part in a few local races, but it drove home the message of how tough and varied the terrains awaiting us are. My family will also be here, in some cases for the first time, so I hope to do well."
Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally Team), leader of the SSV ranking: "The championship is the priority. Our points margin isn't big enough to keep a lid on our rivals, but the next round after this one will be home in Portugal. If there's a race where we can increase our lead, I don't think it's going to be here."
Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), RallyGP world champion and boy next door: "I'm stoked to welcome everyone to Southern Africa, it's my neck of woods, it's where I learned to ride off-road, and I'm proud to be here with number 1 on my bike. Anyone can win here. It'll all come down to the wildlife, with plenty of animals barely visible in the dense bush, as well as the medley of terrains, sometimes within the same stage. A lot of factors can knock you out of the race. Opening will be a tall order, but there will also be loads of dust, so strategy will be part of the game too. The first item on the order of business is to do well in the prologue to get a good starting position for stage 1."
Bradley Cox (Sherco TVS Rally Factory), local hero: "I was eyeing a spot on a factory team. Sherco came to see me right after the Dakar, while I was still on the mend. They made me a great offer and I jumped on it because there aren't exactly loads of official spots going around. It's really exciting because I've spent my whole life on a KTM and never even touched another bike. It's a big change. Racing on home soil isn't such a big advantage because we barely have any bikes in the race in South Africa, but we know the terrain and how to adapt to it. My supporters will turn out in force, with a hundred coming from Durban alone! We'll try to capitalise on that level of support in our own backyard."
Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), championship leader, a child of the Australian bush: "From what I've seen these last few days, the terrain is a bit like what we've got in central Australia, with red-orange dirt. I've raced around the world, so I have experience on all sorts of terrains. I think we'll face a mosaic of terrains, with black dirt, sand, orange soil and, perhaps, some sliding tracks. It ought to be a mix. We spent the tests attempting to find the right settings to do well on all fronts and get some traction. I don't expect us to need a great deal of stability at high speeds. But we don't know what to expect. It's unlike anything we've tackled before in the W2RC. This looks set to be a new, unique and exciting round for everyone."
