Toyota takes the podium at the Safari Rally in South Africa

The Safari Rally of South Africa, third round of the FIA-FIM World Rally-Raid Championship, showcased Toyota Gazoo Racing's strength on home turf with a dominant performance in the second stage. Guy Botterill and his teammate Saood Variawa claimed the top two positions on the 623-kilometer route between Sun City and Marathon Camp.

The day was marked by clear superiority of the Hilux vehicles in the Ultimate category, while penalties for missed waypoints substantially altered the final results. In Challenger and SSV categories, last-minute changes also reshuffled the standings.

Photo By Red Bull

Toyota dominates at home with triple presence

The second stage, considered the longest of the competition with 356 timed kilometers, ended with an ideal scenario for Toyota. Although Guillaume de Mévius (Mini X-raid JCW) recorded the best on-track time, a 2-minute penalty relegated him to third place.

Penalties also affected Nasser Al Attiyah, who was aiming for the overall lead. The Qatari driver from Dacia Sandriders received a 15-minute penalty that dropped him to fifteenth position.

In the provisional standings, Seth Quintero leads the table with a 13-second advantage over Baragwanath and 1:31 minutes over Lucas Moraes. Ford placed Woolridge in fourth position at 1:47, while Henk Lategan completes Toyota's trio with a 2:09 minute gap. Sébastien Loeb sits seventh at 2:51 minutes, while Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ford M-Sport) fell to ninth place at 4:31 minutes after both received one-minute penalties for speeding.

Cavigliasso closes in on Zille in Challenger category

The Challenger category also saw last-minute changes due to penalties. Nicolás Cavigliasso (BBR Motorsport) took the victory while Pau Navarro and David Zille each received 2-minute penalties for a missed waypoint and speeding respectively.

Dania Akeel finished second at 2:02 minutes, and Khalifa Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing) completed the podium at 3:25. In the overall standings, Zille maintains the lead by just 5 seconds over Cavigliasso, who moved up from fourth to second. Pau Navarro holds third place at 1:32 minutes. BBR Motorsport monopolizes the provisional podium in this category.

Photo By Red Bull

Alexandre Pinto capitalizes in SSV

The SSV category saw Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally) secure his second victory since the prologue. The Portuguese driver benefited from a 2-minute penalty imposed on Mário Franco (Francosport) for speeding, who had originally set the fastest time.

Despite this setback, Franco maintains a solid overall lead with a 21:38 minute advantage over Michele Cinotto (CST Xtreme Plus Polaris). Pinto, who is the championship leader but had recurring steering issues the previous day, remains 1 hour and 26 minutes behind his compatriot in the overall standings.