As the South African Safari Rally, brought to you by Toyota Gazoo Racing, kicked off Stage 2 on Wednesday, 21 May 2025 – the first part of the tough two-day Marathon Stage – the leading competitors from the previous day faced the added challenge of opening the 352 km route through the African bushveld and savannah. This made it a punishing day for the impressive field of international and local competitors.
For the lead bike and car World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) riders, drivers and navigators, opening the route would mean slippery braking zones, cornering lines without established tracks, having to pioneer the stage’s navigation and the risk of animals. These off-road racing challenges became real issues for the first bike rider and car crews on Stage 2.
Another brutal stage for the bikes
Stage 1 winner in the bike category, Ross Branch from Botswana, fell victim to his own prediction about the risk of animals during the SA Safari Rally. The Hero Motosports rider suffered a near-disastrous encounter with a bird just minutes into Stage 2. He finished 29th on stage, dropping him to 13th overall in the top-level RallyGP category.
“I hit a bird that came out of a cornfield at about 14 km, so it was early on. It broke my oil cooler, and the bike immediately started losing engine oil. I had to stop and bypass the cooler, which cost me a lot of time. Luckily, because it was a marathon stage, I was riding with some oil on me and could replace the lost oil volume and keep going,” Branch said.
Current W2RC leader, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider, Daniel Sanders, proved his pedigree in the challenging conditions, winning by 32 seconds from his Argentine team-mate, Luciano Benavides. Completing the Stage 2 overall podium was America’s Ricky Brabec, on his Monster Energy Honda HRC, 4:32 behind Sanders.
“There were some animals running around in the last bit with lots of terrain changes, which gave us a good idea of what the rest of the marathon stage will be. My wheels are straight, and the only damage I picked up from Stage 2 is a cracked front mud guard after hitting a branch, which is an easy fix to just tape up,” Sanders said.
The overall RallyGP bike standings when competitors retreated for a hard-earned overnight rest in tents at the marathon bivouac, located at a salt pan near the small farming town of Stella, saw Sanders leading his team-mate Benavides by 1:11. Monster Energy Honda HRC rider, Adrien van Beveren, encountered mistakenly closed gates and was credited time at the end of the stage, which placed him third in the overall standings, 2:58 behind Sanders.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Edgar Canet was first of the Rally2 riders home, 06:14 ahead of South Africa’s hard-charging Michael Docherty on his BAS World Racing KTM. In third was Austria’s Tobias Ebster. The overall Rally2 standings after Stage 2 has Spain’s Canet leading by 11:51 from Hero Motosport Rally’s Ebster. Local favourite Docherty is third, despite having lost 13 minutes on Stage 1, after early morning illness prevented him from starting on time.
CFMoto continues to dominate the quad category with a 10th W2RC stage victory. Lithuania’s Antanas Kanopkinas won from teammate Gaëtan Martinez, with the French rider retaining the overall lead.
Dominant Toyota performance – again
Stage 2 was the first phase of the South African Safari Rally’s marathon stage, which totals more than
600 km of competitive special stage racing, across two days, without team technical support at the overnight bivouac in rural North West’s bushveld.
Guy Botterill and navigator Dennis Murphy, in their Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA) Hilux, won the arduous 352 km Stage 2 special after setting the pace during most of the day.
After placing a disappointing 15th on Stage 1 after a strong third place in the prologue, Botterill’s bushveld driving skills and Murphy’s navigational intuition aligned perfectly. Botterill was thrilled with the win, but knows that being first on the road for Stage 3 won’t be easy. “We were quite a long way down the road on Stage 2, for road position, and pushed without making navigation mistakes. Dennis was so good on the notes. Stage 3 will be more difficult for us opening the road, so I expect to lose time,” Botterill said.
Saood Variawa and French navigator, Francois Cazalet, also in a TGRSA Hilux, finally showed their potential after two frustrating days of team mistakes and vehicle gremlins. After the disappointment of a jumped start during the prologue and a torrid Stage 1, where a loose exhaust mount disabled the Hilux’s anti-lag system and created a fire issue with the spare tyre, Variawa proved why he is the youngest Dakar stage winner in history, with a drive that showed maturity and speed, guided by Cazalet’s pacing.
Belgium’s Guillaume de Mévius and French navigator, Xavier Panseri, in their X-Raid Mini JCW were third after initially topping the timing before a 2-minute penalty for missing a waypoint. Interestingly, de Mévius is driving the only diesel-powered vehicle at the South African Safari Rally.
In the Challenger category, BBR Motorsport took the win with the Argentine driver and navigator crew of Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini, ahead of teammates, Saudi driver Dania Akeel and her French navigator, Stephane Duple. Third place was secured by Qatari Khalifa Al Attiyah and Argentine navigator, Bruno Jacomy, for Nasser Racing.
The Challenger overall standings heading into Stage 3 are a BBR Motorsport 1-2-3. The Argentine crews of David Zille/Sebastian Cesana and Nicolás Cavigliasso/Valentina Pertegarini are separated by a mere 5 seconds, with Spaniards Pau Navarro and Jan Rose in third.
Portuguese teams prevailed in the side-by-side (SSV) class. Although a spirited drive by Mário Franco and Joao Miranda looked like a winning time, their effort was undone by timing penalties, resulting in a second-place finish. SSV stage winners were the Old Friends Rally team of Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira. Third place was NMP’s Italian driver Enrico Gaspari and Portuguese navigator, Fausto Mota.
The overall SSV standings after Stage 2 have Francosport’s Mário Franco and Joao Miranda leading by 2:29 from the South Racing CanAm team of Richard Aczel and Wouter Rosegaar. In third place behind the English and Dutch driver/navigator combination of South Racing CanAm is the deeply experienced Italian CST Extreme Plus Polaris team of Michele Cinotto and Maurizio Dominella, who are 21:38 behind the leaders.
A Californian leads the car category
Despite three different South African driver and navigator pairings winning the prologue and first two stages, the overall event leaders in the ultimate car category, are the American and German duo of Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz. Consistent pace in their Hilux has placed the Toyota Gazoo Racing crew 13 seconds in the lead.
Second overall are the Century Racing South Africans, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer, with another Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux in third, piloted by Brazil’s Lucas Moraes and Spanish navigator, Armand Monleon.
Prologue winners Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer in their NWM Evo Plus, are fourth overall after finishing sixth for the stage.
Stage 1 winners Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings carried the burden of opening the stage and sweeping the slippery savannah top layer in their Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux. They are fifth overall, after only managing 13th on Stage 2, with Lategan admitting they struggled to be the lead car and pioneer the navigation without any reference tracks.
Navigation errors cost W2RC championship leaders
Dacia Sandriders are the team with the winningest rally-raid drivers, but struggled to keep momentum on the first phase of the South African Safari Rally’s marathon stage. Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin classified 10th for the second stage and held the same position in the overall classification for the Ultimate car class.
Five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al Attiyah and French navigator, Edouard Boulanger, finished 17th on Stage 2, for an overall ranking of 15th. It wasn’t an easy day for the W2RC championship leaders. Dacia Sandriders’ team principal, Tiphanie Isnard acknowledged the challenging nature of a new event. “It’s a tough race and making no mistake is the secret. A waypoint missed for Nasser and Édouard again today greatly impacted the result. Seb has had an overspeed penalty, too, so it’s been an up-and-down day.”
Thursday’s Stage 3 is the balance of the marathon stage. SA Safari Rally riders and car crews will cover a daunting 272 km of racing through the bushveld. Without a comprehensive overnight service and vehicle overhauling opportunity or fresh tyres, balancing the need for speed and mechanical sympathy will be crucial to reach the Sun City bivouac at the end of this unforgiving two-day test.