Overdrive Racing’s Yacopini, Garces, Miura and Krotov reach finish
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s (TGR) Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings made up for their Dakar Rally disappointment by narrowly beating rivals Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin to victory in the South African Safari Rally.
The battle for victory in the first ever round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) to be held in South Africa went down to the final few kilometres of the fifth 110.71km loop stage around Sun City, but the local crew held on to secure the win by just one minute 39 seconds with the third fastest time.
Overdrive Racing ran four Toyota Hiluxes amongst a flotilla of Toyota Gazoo Racing machines and all four cars reached the finish. Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras picked up valuable points for finishing 14th, while the Chilean duo of Hernan Garces and Juan Pablo Latrach came home in 19th
Time penalties cost Akira Miura and Jean-Michel Polato valuable time but they crossed the finish line in 25th and a stage maximum time penalty ruined the chance of Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov achieving a top result but they were classified in 44th.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón were second on the final stage on their way to third overall and there were stage wins for team-mates Saood Variawa and François Cazalet (SS4) and Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy (SS2). Variawa and Botterill finished 12th and 13th overall with Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz coming home in sixth place in their Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux.
Variawa lost top spot on the 8.77km Prologue after being penalised one minute for a false start but it was a strong opening stage for Botterill and Lategan finishing second and third. Moraes was ninth and Overdrive Racing’s Krotov, Miura and Garces were classified in 16th, 29th and 35th.
Lategan continued the impressive form he showed on the Dakar to win the opening 259.17km stage by 2min 8sec. Moraes came home in sixth, Quintero was 10th and Yacopini finished 13th. Krotov (17th), Miura (21st) and Garces (28th) safely negotiated the special in their Overdrive Racing Toyotas.
Botterill and Variawa finished first and second on the first part of the 356.07km two-day Marathon stage from Sun City to the bivouac in Stella that crossed Barberspans’s open savannah and offered tricky navigation. Quintero and Moraes came home in fourth and seventh with Yacopini, Miura and Garces in 13th, 16th, and 17th. Krotov was 29th.
The second half of the Marathon stage ran for 245.28km after a surprisingly cold and frosty night for competitors camped under the stars. Lategan and Moraes finished fifth and seventh with the Brazilian moving into a slender four-second overall lead until he incurred a one-minute time penalty and slipped to fourth. Yacopini, Miura and Garces were 13th, 29th and 38th after various time penalties were later imposed. Krotov failed to finish the stage and incurred additional penalties.
Moraes said: “We were leading the race until we picked up a penalty when I braked a little late coming into a speed zone. We’re staying consistent and I hope we can keep doing this until the end. We’re in a good position and the car is unbelievable so we’re ready for a big push tomorrow.”
The penultimate stage skirted the border with Botswana and a gruelling day of 692.57km included 223.28km against the clock. Variawa won the stage by 54 seconds from Guillaume De Mévius but seventh-placed Lategan climbed 65 seconds ahead of Loeb in the overall classification. Overdrive Racing’s Yacopini, Garces and Miura headed into the final day in 14th, 17th and 20th overall.
Lategan did enough on the final stage to see off Loeb and secure victory on home soil and Moraes confirmed a finish on the bottom step of the podium.
The fourth round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship is the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal on September 22nd-28th
2025 South African Safari Rally – result (unofficial @15.10hrs):
1. Henk Lategan (RSA)/Brett Cummings (RSA) Toyota GR DKR Hilux 12hr 10min 42sec
2. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL) Dacia Sandrider 12hr 12min 21sec
3. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota GR DKR Hilux 12hr 13min 37sec
4. Gareth Woolridge (RSA)/Boyd Dreyer (RSA) Evo Plus 12hr 15min 30sec*
5. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/Lucas Cruz (ESP) Ford Raptor 2hr 15min 57sec
6. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (GER) Toyota GR DKR Hilux 12hr 17min 01sec
7. Joan Roma (ESP)/Alex Haro (ESP) Ford Raptor 12hr 17min 27sec
8. Daniel Schröder (GER)/Carl Henri Köhne (RSA) Volkswagen WCT Amarok 12hr 19min 46sec
9. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Xavier Panseri (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i 12hr 22min 26sec
10. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider 12hr 22min 30sec
Source: Overdrive Racing
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