2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championships
Round Three – South African Safari Rally
Stage One
Daniel Sanders got off to a strong start at the third round of the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship by winning Monday’s Prologue at the South African Safari Rally. However, an early mistake on Tuesday proved costly for the KTM rider, resulting in a six-minute time loss.
Riders covered 555 kilometres during Stage One on Tuesday, including 260 kilometres of timed sections.
Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) claimed the RallyGP stage ahead of Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Adrien Van Beveren and Ricky Brabec, a triumph that also catapulted the Motswana into the overall lead.
Branch put 55 seconds into Adrien Van Beveren and 1′09″ into another Honda rider, Ricky Brabec, to clinch his thirteenth career W2RC win.
A 2-minute penalty for a missed waypoint pushed the prologue winner, Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), down to fourth place, 3′04″ back.
Branch is the new overall leader with 50 seconds to spare over VBA and 1′03″ over Brabec.
Adrien Van Beveren – P2
“I felt quite good on the bike although I had some problems with the tablet at the beginning as it kept going on and off and so I tried to follow the tracks ahead in some places. I managed to stay calm and ended up riding well. We went through some deep water, I think the bike took some water but luckily I could start again and continue. At the refuelling point the organisation changed the tablet so that was good to get this issue sorted.”
The KTM duo of Sanders (+2′44″) and Luciano Benavides (+3′22″) round out the top 5.
Round Three – South African Safari Rally – Daniel Sanders
Several RallyGP riders ran into trouble on Tuesday. Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy Honda HRC) took a tumble and finished seventh, 7′35″ off the pace. Even worse, his teammate Skyler Howes and the newly minted Sherco factory rider Bradley Cox dropped 17 and 25 minutes, respectively, to the leader from Botswana.
Not even a bout of illness can stop Michael Docherty! The South African was feeling a bit under the weather at the start, but that did not prevent him from scooping up his ninth Rally2 stage on the trot and extending an undefeated streak that goes back to stage 12 of the Dakar. He was 37 seconds quicker than Edgar Canet on a works KTM and 49 seconds faster than Tobias Ebster astride a factory Hero.
Stage Two on Wednesday will be held under marathon rules. The convoy will roll into the Marathon Camp after 623 km (including 356 km against the clock), where no service crews will be awaiting the competitors.
South African Safari Rally Stage One Results
- Ross Branch – Hero 2:44:04
- Adrien Van Beveren – Honda +00.55s
- Ricky Brabec – Honda +01m09s
- Daniel Sanders – KTM +03m04s
- Luciano Benavides – KTM +03m25s
- Jose Cornejo – Hero +07m33s
- Tosha Schareina – Honda +07m51s
- Michael Docherty – KTM +11m18s
- Edgar Canet – KTM +11m55s
- Tobias Ebster – Hero +12m07s
South African Safari Rally Provisional Standings after Stage One
- Ross Branch – Hero 2h54m16s
- Adrien Van Beveren – Honda +00m50s
- Ricky Brabec – Honda +01m03s
- Daniel Sanders – KTM +2m44s
- Luciano Benavides – KTM +3m23s
South African Safari Rally Schedule
-
- May 21 – Stage Two – Sun City–Marathon Camp (road section: 267 km / special: 356 km / total: 623 km)
- 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)
