Ballito rally driver Guy Botterill powered his way to 14th overall in the 2026 Dakar Rally after a punishing two weeks of racing through the Saudi Arabian desert.

Driving alongside Spanish navigator Oriol Mena, Botterill achieved six top-10 finishes across 13 stages, maintaining pace with the front-runners until mechanical issues and punctures set them back. The pair completed over

8 000km in their Toyota Hilux IMT Evo, finishing just over one hour and 43 minutes off the lead.

“I really enjoyed the race, it was a good race for us. I know it’s not the result we deserved, but it’s certainly coming,” said Botterill, who races for Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, at the finish on Saturday.

He praised Mena for his resilience under pressure.

“Thank you to Oriol. Yesterday, when we were stuck, he was unbelievable – digging the car out and changing drive shafts. He broke his finger and still pulled through.”

Botterill cited Stage 6, where they placed ninth, as his personal highlight.

“It wasn’t our fastest stage, but it was 100% dunes, 400km of racing and we finished five minutes off Nasser [Al-Attiyah, overall Dakar winner],” he said.

Dune stages have historically been a challenge for Botterill, with limited opportunities to train on sand in South Africa.

This year marked his third consecutive Dakar Rally in the Car T1+ category. He finished sixth in his debut in 2024, but was forced to withdraw last year due to mechanical failure.

“I think there are a lot of good things to come and I am looking forward to building on what we did this week.”

Full results are available at dakar.com, and updates can be found via Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa or BMT – Botterill Motorsport Team on Facebook.

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