Sanders back in the lead despite hiccup on Stage Two in South Africa

2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championships

Round Three – South African Safari Rally
Stage Two – Wednesday

The big news overnight in South Africa was the withdrawal of Tosha Schareina following his crash on Tuesday. After sustaining a hand injury, the Spaniard was forced to sit out the remainder of the rally to focus on recovery, a tough blow, especially as the Honda man was holding second place in the World Rally-Raid Championship standings.

Stage two of the South African Safari Rally proved a challenge for all with a demanding 623 km to cover on Wednesday, 356 km of which was on the clock.

Departing from Sun City and heading southwest toward the marathon camp, where half of the route featured vast stretches of savannah terrain. Fast, flat and open tracks made navigation critical, adding to the day’s difficulty.

The stage saw an early back-and-forth battle between the front-runners before the KTM duo of Daniel Sanders and Luciano Benavides moved to the fore for a KTM 1-2 almost five-minutes clear of Honda’s Ricky Brabec after the American lost time after a navigation error after the refuelling point led him to the wrong side of a fence line, costing him nearly five minutes.

The setback dropped Brabce to fourth overall, now 3m05s behind new rally leader Daniel Sanders.

Sanders himself got lost around 30 kilometres into the special which cost the Australian around a minute before he refocussed and forged his way back towards the front.

Previous leader and defending World Rally Raid Champion Ross Branch suffered mechanical issues with his Hero machine that cost him more than an hour. The delay saw him drift a long way down the general rankings, the Motswana 29th on stage and now 13th outright.

Adrien Van Beveren, coming off a strong second-place finish on Tuesday, found himself opening the stage after passing lead-out rider Ross Branch just 14 km in. A series of locked gates slowed his progress, but officials later credited him with the lost time. Van Beveren ultimately posted the fourth fastest run and still occupies a place on the overall podium, sitting less than three minutes off the lead.

Skyler Howes also had a more solid performance aboard his Honda CRF450 RALLY, working to correct the navigation issues that had hampered him the past couple of days. He stayed within a few minutes of the front throughout the stage and despite a similar navigation slip with the fence line, finished fifth, six and a half minutes off the lead.

At the windswept marathon camp, Rally GP riders were met with a 30-minute time limit to service their bikes without any assistance from their teams who remained in Sun City. While team mechanics were absent, riders could count on their teammates to help. Under marathon rules, tyre swapping was prohibited too, with penalties awaiting any violations. After a night under the stars at the bivouac, riders will collect their machines from parc fermé in the morning and head into stage three.

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South African Safari Rally Stage Two Results

1. Daniel Sanders – KTM 3:40:30
2. Luciano Benavides – KTM +00m32s
3. Ricky Brabec – HRC +04m46s
4. Adrien Van Beveren – HRC +06m28s
5. Skyler Howes – HRC +06m28s
6. Edgar Canet – KTM +10m31s
7. Jose Cornejo – Hero +13m14s
8. Bradley Cox – Sherco +15m36s
9. Michael Docherty – KTM +16m45s
10. Tobias Ester – Hero +22m04s

South African Safari Rally Schedule

1. • May 22 – Stage Three – Marathon Camp–Sun City (road section: 272 km / special: 255 km / total: 527 km)
   • May 23 – Stage Four – Sun City–Sun City (road section: 470 km / special: 224 km / total: 694 km)
   • May 24 – Stage Five – Sun City–Sun City (road section: 88 km / special: 118 km / total: 206 km)