South African cars, drivers, bikers ready to thrill
South Africa has a proud heritage in the Dakar Rally, both on four and two wheels, and 2025 is no exception. Among the country’s finest are set to take on the best in world in both categories. Here’s Auto’s full preview.
If the 2025 car entry list is anything to go by, 2025 will be another vintage Dakar year for Southern African entries in the Car category. With fifty-five percent of the Car entries designed, built and developed in the country, and a large contingent of cars, drivers and crews racing too, South Africa quite literally owns the Dakar. But will that be enough for another win?
More than half the cars are made in South Africa
Of the 63 cars entered, 35 are made in South Africa. That’s 17 Toyotas,10 Centurys, 7 Red-Lined, and a new WCT Volkswagen Amarok. And while it’s all change among the South African machinery’s principal rivals, it’s by no means a given for success. Especially with two star-studded new superteams on the block.
First, the South African entries. Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa has entered four latest spec made-at-Kyalami Ultimate T1+ Hiluxes. Giniel de Villiers is reunited with the man he won his Dakar with; German Dirk von Zitzewitz in the hot seat for his last Hilux hurrah. Will he retire, or will Giniel jump ship after this one? The legend is backed by Guy David Botterill and Dennis Murphy, back to better their stunning rookie winning sixth place last year, while Saood Variawa and Frenchman Francois Cazalet will be looking for a bit of better luck and a top ten this year. And South African champions Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings are back after Henk missed 2024 due to an injury. They were fifth in 2023.
There are three Southern African crews among the Johannesburg based Century army. All former Dakar quad hero Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer need is a little luck to turn their incredible Century Factory CR7 pace into success. Mark Corbett makes his return alongside Juan Möhr in a rear drive Century Factory CR6-T in search of T1.2 success, while Zimbabwean William Battershill has teamed up with South African Stuart Gregory, who has traded his KTM for the hot seat in their T1.2 Century CR6. The final South African in the cars is Henry Köhne navigating for German Daniel Schröder in another Kyalami outfit, WCT Racing’s new Volkswagen Amarok.
World Champion Ross Branch number 1 in the bikes
Big news on two wheels is that Botswana’s 2024 World Rally Raid Moto Champion, second on Dakar 2024 and former triple South African Champion Ross Branch will carry number 1 on his Tork Craft-backed Hero MotoSports 450 Rally. More local news is of another multiple South African champion and 2024 World Rally 2 Champion, Bradley Cox stepping up to the big time aboard a privately-run Rally GP class BAS World KTM 450.
A third fast South African, Aaron Mare will also race in the big class on his HT Husqvarna, and three of his compatriots will compete in the privateer Rally2 category. Michael Docherty returns on a BAS World KTM, while rookie duo, Willem Avenant has an HT Husqvarna at his disposal and Dwain Barnard rides a Nomade Racing KTM.
Getting back to the big time, 2024 bike winner, Honda returns with a five-machine army for ‘24 winner, American Ricky Brabec, compatriot Skyler Howes, Chilean Pablo Quintanilla, the ever-present Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, and quick Spaniard Tosha Schareina. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is back at Dakar as ever and in spite of the Austrian manufacturer’s fiscal woes. The bikes will be ridden by GasGas refugee Australia Daniel Sanders and Argentine brothers, former Husqvarna man Luciano and regular rider in orange, Kevin Benavides.
Cox on a GP Machine among six Southern Africans
Ross Branch is backed by Chilean José Ignacio Cornejo and German rider Sebastian Bühler in the Hero camp, while Spain’s Lorenzo Santolino and Portuguese rider Rui Goncalves will fly the Sherco flag. There are three single-bike entries for minnow bike makers, a Kove 450 for US flyer Mason Klein, a Rieju 450 with Bolivian Daniel Nosiglia Jager riding, and UAE rider Mohammed Balooshi in the saddle for Fantic.
South African privateers Cox and Mare will have Czech Martin Michek and Slovak Štefan Svitko on a pair of KTMs, and Portuguese rider Antonio Maio’s Yamaha to contend with as Rally GP privateers. Rally2 is hugely competitive as it covers the majority of the field. Indian 2024 Rally 2 winner Harith Noah is back on his Sherco, Frenchmen Romain Dumontier’s Honda and Mathieu Doveze’s KTM, and Czech Jan Brabec on another KTM will be the South African trio’s rivals on the 136 machine entry list.
As noted, it’s not a simple thing to win at the Dakar. Especially with a recharged opposition with brand new state of the art machinery piloted by among the finest crews on the planet. Like the Dacia Sandriders piloted by Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah chasing his sixth Dakar win with Edouard Boulanger. Never mind WRC legend, Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin hell bent on his first Dakar win, and Dakar buggy heroine Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno in three new Prodrive-run T1+ Ultimate machines.
Audi out, Ford, Dacia in, big time!
2024 and 4-time winner, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz head a four car Ford Raptor team now run by M-sport, which sadly pinched the deal previously run by Pietermaritzburg outfit NWR for 2025. Sainz is backed by an impressive lineup including fellow Audi refugees, Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist, former bike winner Nani Roma and Alex Haro and US side-by-side graduate Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch in a quartet of Ford M-sport T1+ Raptors. Don’t forget the completely independent Czech Ford Raptor crewed by Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka that finished 6th in 2023 and 5th in ’24.
Mini may be a Dakar surprise this year, with a far more focussed effort for 2025. Headed by fast French crew Guillaume De Mévius and Mathieu Baumel and quick Kyrgyzstan crew Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov in a pair of petrol-propelled X-raid Mini JCW Rally 3.0is and backed by Lionel and Lucie Baud in a turbodiesel version.
Multiple car and bike winning superhero, Stephane Peterhansel may be skipping Dakar 2025, but there’s another very interesting team among the fleet of made-in-SA Dakar Toyota Hiluxes this year. Multiple bike winners, Aussie Toby Price and Brit Sam Sunderland have teamed up in an Overdrive entry and their progress will be watched with great interest. Other top Hiluxes to keep an eye on include the balance of the factory team in ninth last year, Brazilian Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon, and American Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz. Never ignore Saudi home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, Lithuanian crews Benediktas Vanagas and Szymon Gospodarczyk, and Rokas Baciuska and Oriol Mena, Argentine Juan Cruz Yacopini and Daniel Oliveras and Chinese duo Guoyu Zhang and Yicheng Wang.
Top internationals racing SA cars too
Talking of Chinese entries, Wei Han and Li Ma, and Po Tian and Hangting Guo lead up the other Kyalami, South African Dakar carmaker’s attack in a pair pf Red-Lined Motorsport HWM T1 Plusses. Seychellois lass Aliyyah Koloc starred with 15th last year and she and Sebastien Delaunay will be targeting a top ten in their Red-Lined Revo+ for 2025. Three other Red-Lined Revo+ entries include Belgian Stefan Carmans and Antonius van Tiel and Dutch crews Ronald Van Loon and Erik Lemmen and Dave Klaassen and Tessa Klaassen. Germans Markus Walcher and Frank Stephan Preuss are out to repeat the 2024 Red-Lined Adventure T1 victory in a VK56.
While on South African-built cars, French Factory Century CR7 crew Mathieu Serradori Loic Minaudier can be expected to be in the fight for overall honours, while ever-entertaining Dutch Dakar veteran twins Tim Coronel and Tom Coronel have stepped up to an Ultimate T1+ class Century CR7 for 2025. Another notable Century entry is Spanish former bike heroine Laia Sanz racing her Century CR6-T with Maurizio Gerini in chase of rear-drive T1.2 honours. Among her major rivals are a fleet of French MD Optimus headed by handy crews Christian Lavieille and Valentin Sarreaud and Jean-Luc Ceccaldi and Delphine Delfino.
South African T3 Challenger interest centres around Stellenbosch lass, Puck Klaassen racing with SA bike refugee Charan Moore in the hot seat of their GRally OT. Former Dakar lady biker, Taye Perry will read the notes for Corbin Leaverton in their Red Bull Taurus T3 Max. They are up against Taurus crews, Saudi Yasir Seaidan and Michael Metge, Argentine duo Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini and Frenchmen Alexandre Giroud and Jeremy Jacomelli’s GRally.
Cars, trucks, side by sides and the rest, as always!
T4 SSV action should see close racing between French Polaris pair Xavier De Soultrait and Martin Bonnet and an army of Can-Ams crewed by Spaniards Gerard Farres and Toni Vingut, Chilean Francisco Lopez Contardo and JP Latrach, Argentine pair Manuel Andujar and Bernardo Graue, and Americans Sara Price and Sean Berriman, and Hunter Miller and Andrew Short.
2024 winner Martin Macik, David Svanda and Frantisek Tomasek aboard an MM Powerstar for 2025.
Their main opposition should come from Iveco trio, Ales Loprais, David Kripal and Darek Rodewald, Mitchel van den Brink, Jarno van de Pol and Moises Torrallardona, and Kees Koolen, Daniel Kozlovsky and Wouter de Graaff, and Tatra crew Martin Soltys, Vlastimil Miksch and Tomas Sikola.
Covering almost 8,000 kilometres including over 5000 km of desert racing over two weeks, Dakar 2024 starts with the Prologue at Bisha in Saudi Arabia on Friday 3 January. Race proper follows from the 4th with fourteen days of racing covering twelve stages including a 48-hour 950 km ‘chrono’ marathon test. Dakar 2025 novelties include five stages with separate routes for cars and bikes, while one stage will feature a mass start. Organizers promise a tougher route with much navigation.
Watch for Auto’s Daily Dakar Updates focussing on Southern African competitors on the cars and bikes Motorsport Media in Conjunction with Toyota Gazoo Racing and Tork Craft, who will also be giving away two fully equipped Tork Craft TrackBox toolboxes signed by Ross Branch through the Daker fortnight. Don’t forget to visit the page to enter!
