Count down commences for South African Safari Rally

The anticipation of the world’s best rally-raid teams competing in the first-ever South African Safari Rally, brought to you by Toyota Gazoo Racing, is building at a rapid pace.

It’s now less than a month before the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) descends on South Africa, as the country will host round three of the championship from May 18 – 24 at the Sun City resort in the North West.

The South African Safari Rally is guaranteed to thrill motorsport fans as the leading W2RC competitors in the car category, and the stars of the motorcycle and quad classes have confirmed their places on the starting line-up for this event.

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“We have seen an influx of entries since the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in February and are encouraged by the huge interest and enthusiastic support the South African Safari Rally has received from manufacturers, competitors, rally-raid fans and the media, both locally and internationally,” said The CEO of the South African Safari Rally, Archie Rutherford.

“We have an amazing line-up of W2RC and Dakar Rally champions and many other top-tier competitors in the car and bike categories coming to race here, and we are ready to showcase the wonderful landscapes and the rich heritage that South Africa has in rally-raid competition,” Rutherford said.

“With entries closing on April 30, there’s very little time left for aspiring competitors to secure their place in this amazing event and be part of making history at the first W2RC event to be staged in Southern Africa.”

The South African Safari Rally is scheduled to cover approximately 2 600km, of which more than 1 200km will be competitive stages.

The action commences with a prologue near Sun City on May 19 to determine the starting order, followed by five competitive stages.

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This includes a tough two-day marathon stage on May 21 and 22 with the remote overnight bivouac near the small farming town of Stella requiring the crews to camp in the wild with no service assistance.

The ultimate class is the premier car category in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, featuring specialised four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive prototype vehicles designed to conquer the toughest terrain at astonishing speeds.

There are currently 36 registered crews on the provisional entry list encompassing the top international W2RC teams including Toyota Gazoo Racing, Overdrive Racing, Dacia Sandriders, X-Raid MINI JCW, Ford M-Sport and Team STR.

“Fans can look forward to seeing their heroes in action including reigning W2RC champion and five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar), who finished fourth at this year’s Dakar and won the preceding Abu Dhabi race along with French navigator Edouard Boulanger in their Dacia, placing them in the championship lead heading into round three.

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They will be joined by the formidable all-Spanish Ford M-Sport line-up comprising four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz and navigator Lucas Cruz, along with team-mates Nani Roma and navigator Alex Haro. Roma is one of only two people who have won the Dakar Rally on both two and four wheels – the other being Dakar legend Stéphane Peterhansel.”

There’s a strong contingent of South African-based teams too, several of which also compete in the World Rally-Raid Championship and the Dakar Rally – and they are all eager to prove their mettle on home soil.

This includes crews from Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, Red-Lined Motorsport, Century Racing, the Schröder WCT team, #TeamHilux, Neil Woolridge Motorsport and King Price Extreme.