A 35 km prologue (including 9 km against the clock) got the inaugural South African Safari Rally under way near the Sun City resort on Monday. The South African champions did not disappoint in the car race, with Guy Botterill (Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa) and Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing) delivering a one-two for the manufacturer and the host nation. The young Pau Navarro (BBR Motorsport) came out on top in Challenger, while the SSV championship leader, Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally), lived up to his status in the class. Unbeaten so far this season, the odds-on favourite, Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), claimed the prologue ahead of Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC). There were no upsets among the title contenders, who all finished within the top 10. The local boy Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM Racing) beat Edgar Canet (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in the Rally2 race. Gaëtan Martinez (CFMoto Thunder Racing) netted France a win in the quad category. Tomorrow, stage 1 will take the field on a 555 km loop around Sun City, including 260 km against the clock. The FIM stage will begin at 8:30 am and the FIA one at 10:30. Follow the race live on the Race Center here
FIA: Two South Africans and two Toyotas!
After setting the fastest time in the prologue, Saood Variawa (Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa) seemed poised to bask in the adoration of the local crowds, but a one-minute penalty for a false start dashed those hopes. At least the win remained with his country and team, with Guy Botterill securing his maiden championship win! Henk Lategan, just 3 seconds slower, completed a one-two to the delight of the manufacturer and the fans lining the tracks. Nani Roma placed his Ford M-Sport on the W2RC podium, 4 seconds behind the winner and with the same time as Guillaume de Mévius (Mini X-raid JCW).
Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders) and Carlos Sainz (Ford M-Sport) have had better starts to a race and will take the road 27th and 29th tomorrow. Looking at the other Dacia, a driving error forced Sébastien Loeb to make a short stop and relegated him to the bottom of the Ultimate standings. The Frenchman will open the FIA Stage 1 tomorrow, ahead of Variawa.
CHALLENGER: Advantage Navarro
Pau Navarro landed the first blow in the Challenger race, putting 3 seconds into Adam Kuś (Akpol Recykling Team) and 4 into David Zille (BBR Motorsport). The championship leader, Nicolás Cavigliasso (BBR Motorsport), finished just outside the podium at 5 seconds, followed by Khalifa Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing-QMMF), local star Puck Klaassen (GRally Team) and Dania Akeel (BBR Motorsport), who slipped up once. This was the Catalan's third W2RC triumph in this class. He now has as many victories in Challenger as in SSV.
SSV: Pinto shows who's boss
The championship leader, Alexandre Pinto, emerged victorious from the prologue, with 18 seconds in hand over fellow Portuguese driver Mário Franco (Francosport), who is trying his hand at the class in this race behind the wheel of a Can-Am Maverick R. This unexpected ally could help him to pad his overall lead if he manages to slip between him and his championship rivals. His closest pursuer, Eduardo Gaspari, came in third, 21 seconds off the pace. Michele Cinotto (CST Xtreme Plus Polaris) and Claude Fournier (MMP) bring
FIM: Sanders draws first blood
Daniel Sanders feels just at home in South Africa because "I've raced around the world, so I have experience on all sorts of terrains". The world champion put his money where his mouth was in the prologue, defeating Tosha Schareina, an absolute beast in these short sprints, by 4 seconds. The Spaniard led his HRC teammates Ricky Brabec (+14″) and Adrien Van Beveren (+15″). Local hero Bradley Cox was the seventh-fastest RallyGP entrant (+25″) on his first outing on a Sherco. Back in early January, "Chucky" used his victory in the Dakar prologue as a springboard to take stage 1. Today, he leveraged his triumph in the prologue to start in 4th place tomorrow. With the competitors being unfamiliar with the South African terrain, there were strategic bets from all sides. Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) had chosen to open. Luciano Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who was supposed to choose after him, decided to do the same and will start first tomorrow.
RALLY 2: Docherty domin8s!
Undefeated in Rally2 since the Dakar finale on 17 January, Michael Docherty had a blast and extended his record streak. The South African followed up his six-stage whitewash at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with another triumph, this time on home soil. This brings it to eight victories in a row for the early leader of the Rally2 race, followed by Edgar Canet (+5″) on his factory KTM and Hero newcomer Tobias Ebster (+11″). As if that were not enough, Docherty went toe to toe with the RallyGP riders, clinching third place overall in the FIM category!
QUADS: Oops, Martinez did it again
Gaëtan Martinez nabbed the quad prologue in Sun City, repeating his exploit from last February, when he did the same at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge! The Frenchman narrowly defeated Marek Łój (+1″) and his own teammate Antanas Kanopkinas (+3″). The local star Carien Teessen had the privilege of inaugurating the South African Safari Rally on the track and finished 1′54″ down. This was the second career stage win for Martinez and the eighth for the Chinese manufacturer CFMoto!
SCHEDULE:
- 20 May: stage 1 — Sun City–Sun City (road section: 295 km / special: 260 km / total: 555 km)
- 21 May: stage 2 — Sun City–Marathon Camp (road section: 267 km / special: 356 km / total: 623 km)
- 22 May: stage 3 — Marathon Camp–Sun City (road section: 272 km / special: 255 km / total: 527 km)
- 23 May: stage 4 — Sun City–Sun City (road section: 470 km / special: 224 km / total: 694 km)
- 24 May: stage 5 — Sun City–Sun City (road section: 88 km / special: 118 km / total: 206 km)
