The World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) is back on the continent where it all began. The 2025 South African Safari Rally brings the W2RC convoy to open savanna, dense bush and mountainous altitude in the North West Province.
Round 3 of this year’s five-stop W2RC gets started with a Prologue Stage on Monday, May 19 and finishes five days and 2,645 kilometres later on Saturday, May 24. Thorny bushveld and unforgiving scrubland will take a bite out of any vehicle taking a wrong turn on these wild safari-style tracks!
Wow Fact: Race headquarters will be based at the world-renowned Sun City complex adjacent to the Pilanesberg National Park, home to amazing wildlife including Africa’s Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros, Elephant and Buffalo).
Nasser Al-Attiyah is the W2RC’s leading driver in the Ultimate class after two rounds of racing. The Qatari and co-driver Édouard Boulanger jump back in their Dacia Sandrider after winning February’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
« We start the South African Safari Rally with confidence. Now I want to show the performance of the Dacia Sandrider is not only strong in the desert, but also on the kind of mixed terrain we can expect in South Africa. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Joining Al-Attiyah in South Africa are Dacia team-mates Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin. It’s been a tricky start to the season for this duo following a pair of DNFs.
« The objective for me is clear: after being unable to finish the first two events of the season I want to get all the way to the end in South Africa. » – Sébastien Loeb
Did you know? The South African Safari Rally is a home race for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s rally-raid operation? The team’s Dakar Rally winning Toyota GR DKR Hilux machine is built in the Rainbow Nation. Africa will always be the ‘birthplace of rally-raid’.
Flying the flag for TGR in their own backyard will be the crews of Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleón and Seth Quintero/Dennis Zenz. A runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi for Moraes has put the Brazilian third in the current W2RC Ultimate class driver rankings. Just one place and three points behind Moraes on the leaderboard is Quintero. This pair delivered TGR yet another Manufacturer’s title last season.
Also racing a Toyota Hilux will be Giniel De Villiers, the only South African driver to have won the Dakar Rally. De Villiers’s Dakar win in 2009 made him the undisputed King of Rally-Raid of his homeland. He’ll have his local crowd supporting him and co-driver Leander Pienaar through the scrubland of Stella, Mafikeng and Thabazimbi all week.
« I’m really looking forward to having this third round of the W2RC in South Africa. It’s going to be a great event in the North West Province with some really big names coming out to race. We’re in for some top class rally-raid action. » – Giniel De Villiers
Wow Fact: Giniel de Villiers remains the only African-born winner of the Dakar Rally.
It’s always box office when Carlos Sainz races so expect fireworks when the legendary Spaniard brings his Ford Raptor T1+ to South Africa. The four-time Dakar winner will have Lucas Cruz riding shotgun as they aim to record the Raptor’s first W2RC win.
« It’s going to be the first time in my life that I’ve raced in South Africa. I’m sure it will be a fantastic race and I hope we can do well. » – Carlos Sainz
Also racing for Ford Performance in the North West Province will be Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro. This duo made history at the Dakar earlier this year when they brought the Raptor to its first-ever stage win at the world’s toughest rally.
Completing the line-up of rally-raid’s most formidable machines in the Ultimate class is the MINI John Cooper Works Rally 3.0i to be driven by Guillaume de Mévius. The X-raid driver will have Xavier Panseri reading the pacenotes as they look to get ahead during 1,218 kilometres of racing against the clock.
It maybe a debut W2RC season for Pau Navarro, but the Spaniard is quickly turning into this year’s Mr Consistent in the Challenger class. Third place overall at the Dakar was backed up with a second place finish in Abu Dhabi. Maintaining this run of results would put Navarro, co-driver Jan Rosa and their Taurus machine on the podium’s top step in South Africa.
« We’ve arrived in South Africa early to do some testing so we can be as prepared as possible for this race. I’m very happy with the work so far and I can’t wait to race on this terrain. » – Pau Navarro
History was made by Saudi Arabia’s Dania Akeel last time out at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge alongside co-driver Stephane Duplé. Akeel became the first female driver to win a W2RC event when she took the chequered flag of the Challenger class in her Taurus T3 Max. A bumper crop of championship points, added to her Top 10 finish at the Dakar, have lifted the Saudi Arabian driver to fourth overall in the W2RC Challenger rankings ahead of this trip to South Africa.
« I’m very excited to be here in South Africa, the nature is stunning. It’s definitely different from the last couple of W2RC rounds which have been in open desert. » – Dania Akeel
Wow Fact: The South African Safari Rally will feature four types of terrain: Dirt Tracks 48%, Gravel Roads 27%, Stony Tracks 15% and Sandy Tracks 10%. This mix of terrain make this race a different beast to the desert dunes of other W2RC rounds.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will be tackling the South African Safari Rally on two wheels. All eyes will be on Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders who arrives from Australia in red hot form. Wins at the Dakar and in Abu Dhabi have marked out Sanders as the biker to beat in 2025.
« We’re here in sunny South Africa and I’m super excited to check out a new race and a new country. It’s going to be interesting to see what the rally is like and find out what’s in the roadbook. I’m on a big streak so far this year and I want to keep it going. » – Daniel Sanders
Sanders is joined in South Africa by KTM team-mates Luciano Benavides and Edgar Canet. Benavides was the W2RC champion in 2023 and Canet currently leads the Rally2 category. All three Red Bull KTM Factory Racing bikers have a realistic shot at celebrating victory in Sun City when this rally wraps up.
« I’ve been training a lot at home and trying to replicate the conditions we expect to find here in South Africa. In the last weeks we’ve done some changes on the bike and it now suits my style even better. I want a podium result at this rally. » – Luciano Benavides
Also entered into the bike race is Harith Noah with his Sherco. The Indian rider was the Rally2 champion at the 2024 Dakar Rally and is more than capable of shaking things up as this race winds its way over the bushveld.
The South African Safari Rally starts with a Prologue Stage around Sun City on Monday, May 19. The come five timed special stages – including a two-day Marathon – over dirt, gravel, stony and sandy tracks. The rally will finish back at Sun City on Saturday, May 24 when our winners will be crowned and the championship points handed out.
2025 World Rally-Raid Championship Standings
ULTIMATE – Top 5 : 1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) – DACIA – 96 points ; 2. Y. Al-Rajhi (SAU) – Toyota – 73 pts ; 3. L. Moraes (BRA) – Toyota – 63 pts ; 4. S. Quintero (USA) – Toyota – 60 pts ; 5. H. Lategan (ZAF) – Toyota – 55 pts…
CHALLENGER – Top 5 : 1. N. Cavigliasso (ARG) – Taurus – 104 points ; 2. P. Navarro (ESP) – Taurus – 93 pts ; 3. Y. Seaidan (SAU) – Taurus – 76 pts ; 4. D. Akeel (KSA) – Taurus – 73 pts ; 5. G. Guerreiro (PRT) – Taurus – 61 pts…
BIKE – Top 5 : 1. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM – 63 points ; 2. T. Schareina (ESP) – Honda – 46 pts ; 3. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda – 37 pts ; 4. A. Van Beveren (FRA) – Honda – 35 pts ; 5. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM – 33 pts…
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « We start the South African Safari Rally with confidence. Now I want to show the performance of the Dacia Sandrider is not only strong in the desert, but also on the kind of mixed terrain we can expect in South Africa. Me and Édouard lead the championship so the most important objective will be to keep our positions at the halfway point of the season. »
Sébastien Loeb: « From what I have seen, which was also the case in Kenya when I was competing in World Rally Championship, we will experience broken surfaces and challenging terrain. The objective for me is clear: after being unable to finish the first two events of the season I want to get all the way to the end in South Africa. »
Giniel De Villiers: « I’m really looking forward to having this third round of the W2RC in South Africa. It’s going to be a great event in the North West Province with some really big names coming out to race. We’re in for some top class rally-raid action. »
Carlos Sainz: « I’m really looking forward to the South African Safari Rally. It’s going to be the first time in my life that I’ve raced in South Africa. I’m sure it will be a fantastic race and I hope we can do well. »
Pau Navarro: « We’ve arrived in South Africa early to do some testing so we can be as prepared as possible for this race. I’m very happy with the work so far and I can’t wait to race on this terrain. »
Dania Akeel: « I’m very excited to be here in South Africa, the nature is stunning. It’s definitely different from the last couple of W2RC rounds which have been in open desert. I’m looking forward to adapting to a different driving style. Hopefully we can transfer our skills to make sure we get to the finish line with a good result. »
Daniel Sanders: « We’re here in sunny South Africa and I’m super excited to check out a new race and a new country. It’s going to be interesting to see what the rally is like and find out what’s in the roadbook. I’m on a big streak so far this year and I want to keep it going. I’m sure the Prologue will be important and we’ll see how we go with the dust. »
Luciano Benavides: « I’ve been training a lot at home and trying to replicate the conditions we expect to find in South Africa. It’s our first time racing here so let’s see what it brings. In the last weeks we’ve done some changes on the bike and it now suits my style even better. I want a podium result at this rally. »
Edgar Canet: « It’s the third race of the championship and the first time in South Africa for a lot of riders. It’s always interesting to discover a new race. I’m super motivated to comeback from my crash in Abu Dhabi and do a good job for the team. The aim for this year is to keep improving. »