- Stage 2 took the field on a 623 km trek (including 356 km against the clock) from Sun City to the Marathon Camp. In accordance with marathon rules, the Camp is off limits to service crews. The prologue winners struck gold again in both the car and motorbike categories.
- The car race saw Toyota Gazoo Racing put in a barnstorming performance on home turf, scoring a one-two in the stage with Guy Botterill and Saood Variawa and locking out the provisional podium with Seth Quintero, Lucas Moraes and Henk Lategan.
- Nicolás Cavigliasso (BBR Motorsport) prevailed in the Challenger special and is now shadowing his teammate David Zille in the overall. In SSV, Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally) scooped up his second win, after the prologue, while Mário Franco (Francosport) padded his overall lead.
- The victor on two wheels, Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), wrested the overall lead from Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), who struggled with mechanical issues. His teammate competing in Rally2, Edgar Canet, took the spoils and put clear daylight between himself and his pursuers in the overall.
- Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder Racing) opened his account for the week in the quad competition, but his teammate Gaëtan Martinez remains ensconced in the lead.
- Stage 3 will send the field on a 518 km (including 246 km against the clock) journey back to the race HQ in Sun City. Follow the race live on the Race Center HERE.
FIA: Toy story
Penalties for missing waypoints changed the outcome of the longest special of the race. No-one was faster on the track than Guillaume de Mévius (Mini X-raid JCW), but a 2-minute penalty pushed the Red Devil to third place. Nasser Al Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders), who had been licking his lips at the prospect of seizing the overall lead, plummeted to fifteenth place (+14′30″) as a result of a 15-minute penalty. Guy Botterill and his teammate Saood Variawa celebrated their one-two finish at the Marathon Camp. Meanwhile, Seth Quintero, Lucas Moraes and Henk Lategan hog the W2RC podium. With a double in the stage and a Hilux treble in the overall, the lands of the Lion King saw a real "Toy story" today! Sébastien Loeb (The Dacia Sandriders) and Carlos Sainz (Ford M-Sport) were each handed a 1-minute penalty for speeding. The Frenchman sits fifth at 2′51″ and the Spaniard ninth at 4′31″.
CHALLENGER: Cavigliasso wins and inches closer to Zille
It was not just the Ultimate class that was affected by last-minute penalties. In the Challenger race, Pau Navarro was handed a 2-minute penalty for a missed waypoint, while David Zille got a similar one for speeding. Nicolás Cavigliasso kept the win, with second place going to Dania Akeel, 2′02″ behind, and Khalifa Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing) climbing onto the podium at 3′25″. In the overall, Zille still leads the rally, but today's winner leapt from fourth to second, now just 5 seconds behind his fellow Argentinian! Pau Navarro is third at 1′32″. BBR Motorsport holds a vice grip on the top 3 overall. The class saw its third different winner in as many days.
SSV: Super Mário picks up a power-up
Same story in SSV! Mário Franco (Francosport), originally credited with the fastest time in the special, got a 2-minute speeding penalty. Victory fell into the lap of the prologue winner, Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally), with Franco 1′13″ down in the stage. "Super Mário" extended his overall lead to 21′38″ over Michele Cinotto (CST Xtreme Plus Polaris). Pinto, the championship leader, who struggled with recurrent steering problems yesterday, is still 1 h 26 behind his compatriot in the overall despite this new triumph.
FIM: Sanders pulls level with record holder Van Beveren
Born and bred in the Australian bush, Daniel Sanders is in his element in South Africa. He followed up his win in the prologue with his second victory in three days, keeping his resurgent teammate Luciano Benavides (+32″) at bay in the final stretch of the special. It was his seventeenth W2RC triumph in RallyGP, which puts him level with Adrien Van Beveren. The KTM duo now stands at the top of the general standings, with "Chucky" 1′11″ ahead of the Argentinian. Next up are Monster Energy Honda HRC's Adrien Van Beveren (+2′58″) and Ricky Brabec (+3′05″), who had been in the mix at the beginning of the stage. Two favourites dropped out of contention for the title. Tosha Schareina was unable to hop onto his Honda this morning after hurting his hand in a crash yesterday. Ross Branch had to contend with the mechanical gremlins plaguing his Hero for over an hour, although he did make it to the Marathon Camp. It was a crushing blow for the world number 1, who had been leading the overall thanks to his win in stage 1.
RALLY 2: Jackpot for Canet After mixing it up with the big names in RallyGP earlier in the stage, Edgar Canet crossed the line sixth overall in FIM but clinched victory in the Rally2 class. His sixth W2RC win strengthened his grip on the overall lead, where he now holds an 11′51″ cushion over Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports). Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM Racing), who was unwell yesterday and incurred a 13-minute penalty for being late to the road section, climbed back onto the Rally2 podium, where he now sits third, 16′32″ off the lead. He leapfrogged his teammate Konrad Dąbrowski, now fourth at 23′13″.
QUADS: Kanopkinas a solid ten for CFMoto A brief stop-and-go did not stop Antanas Kanopkinas from prevailing in the quad race. The Lithuanian erased his 6′26″ deficit to his teammate Gaëtan Martinez at km 51 and went on to win by 4′48″. Even so, the Frenchman retains the overall lead ahead of today's stage winner (+22′02″) and the local competitor Carien Teessen. This marks the tenth W2RC victory for the Chinese manufacturer CFMoto.
SCHEDULE:
- 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).
