Just ten days to go until the first timed start of the South African Safari Rally, which will pit the field against 2,645 km of savannah racing (1,218 km of specials) around Sun City, north-west of Johannesburg, from 18 to 24 May.
There are 96 entries. 29 of the 54 FIA vehicles are W2RC competitors (17 in Ultimate, 7 in Challenger and 5 in SSV). All 42 FIM vehicles are registered for the W2RC (9 in Rally GP, 29 in Rally 2 and 4 in quads).
On the FIM front, Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is in command in Rally GP, Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports) holds the top spot in Rally 2 and Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto Thunder Racing) is the front-runner in the quad competition.
Bradley Cox (Sherco TVS Rally Factory) and Tobias Ebster (Hero MotoSports) are set to make their first appearance as works riders in the motorbike race.
It is hard to look past Daniel Sanders (63 points), undefeated in RallyGP so far this season, as the favourite in the African savannah —not just because of his blistering form, but also because the terrain is not that far removed from the Australian bush where he grew up. Untouchable in the first two rounds (see Did you know?), "Chucky" will again be flying with his wingman Luciano Benavides (33 points) at his side. The two orange works riders will once again face a numerically superior red squadron. Monster Energy Honda HRC are fielding four riders, including the three men hot on the heels of the overall leader: Tosha Schareina (46 points), Ricky Brabec (37 points) and Adrien Van Beveren (35 points).
The reigning world champion, Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports), was a DNF in both of the previous rounds. The "Kalahari Ferrari", who comes from across the border in Botswana, has three South African cross-country titles in his trophy cabinet and will be racing almost on home soil, hoping to put this series of unfortunate events behind him. Nacho Cornejo will be escorting him.
The FIM entry list reflects a couple of eye-catching transfers, with two competitors graduating to factory rider status, one in RallyGP and the other in Rally2. Bradley Cox will be the only homegrown talent in the RallyGP race. Instead of a KTM, the mount on which his father, Alfie Cox, became a legend of rally raids, he will be riding a Sherco factory motorbike. Bradley Cox, who has been competing in the W2RC since 2022, has achieved his second goal. After clinching the Rally2 title in 2024, the former BAS World KTM Racing man, who graduated to RallyGP this season, has accomplished a well-deserved breakthrough with the French outfit.
Tobias Ebster, nephew to another KTM all-time great, Heinz Kinigadner, has landed a factory spot with Hero MotoSports in Rally2. The Austrian, who tops the board in this class (46 points), will have to break in the new motorbike and fend off the assaults of his closest rival, his former teammate Michael Docherty (42 points), who will be racing in his own backyard. The KTM factory rider Edgar Canet (38 points) is back following his crash in Abu Dhabi. Konrad Dąbrowski (34 points), who usually races for Duust Rally, will compete in this round under the aegis of BAS World KTM Racing. All in all, with Harith Noah at Sherco, Canet at KTM and now Ebster at Hero, there will be three factory riders in the Rally 2 ranking of round 3. It is a record since the 2022 launch of the W2RC, which set up this class as a development pipeline for motorbike riders, an idea that has paid off big time.
Meanwhile, the quad race faces the second round of the season, after the opener in the dunes of Abu Dhabi. The championship top 3 has heeded the call of the savannah. Antanas Kanopkinas (25 points) and his CFMoto teammate Gaëtan Martinez (20 points) have thrown their hats into the ring, as has Marek Łoj (Poland National Team — 16 points). The local hero Carien Teessen is set to make her championship debut.
DID YOU KNOW?
2-win record at risk
No RallyGP rider has managed to win more than 2 W2RC rounds in the course of a single season. Sam Sunderland, who bagged the world championship title in 2022, claimed the first two legs but finished no higher than fifth in his two other entries. Daniel Sanders will have three opportunities to forge ahead of "Sundersam" and become the sole record holder. Pulling off this feat in South Africa would be the icing on the cake for the man from Down Under, as that would also make him the first RallyGP rider to win three races on the trot.
SCHEDULE:
17–18 May: administrative and technical scrutineering
19 May: prologue — Sun City (road section: 26 km / special: 9 km / Total: 35 km)
20 May: stage 1 — Sun City–Sun City (road section: 295 km / special: 262 km / total: 557 km)
21 May: stage 2 — Sun City–Marathon Camp (road section: 268 km / special: 352 km / total: 620 km)
22 May: stage 3 — Marathon Camp–Sun City (road section: 270 km / special: 253 km / total: 523 km)
23 May: stage 4 — Sun City–Sun City (road section: 470 km / special: 224 km / total: 693 km)
24 May: stage 5 — Sun City–Sun City (road section: 98 km / special: 118 km / total: 216 km)
Source: W2RC / A.S.O.
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