Thirty-three years after welcoming the arrival of the 1992 Dakar, South Africa sees the cream of the international rally-raid return to its land for the very first South African Safari Rally. Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren should be there.
South Africa has seen large all-terrain pilots come out, like Grant Langston, Tyla Rattray or Greg Albertyn. This pennier became the first world champion in Motocross (125) in the history of the country in 1992. Another important event took place at home that year: the arrival of Dakar 1992. The famous Paris edition-CAP, won by Stitphaan Peterhansel. Thirty-three years later, the international rally-raid caravan is back in the country.
A new rally-raid was born
Let it not be mistaken: South Africa does not welcome a new Dakar, an event that has taken up residence in Saudi Arabia since 2020. The legendary race is now part of the World Rallye-Raid championship (W2RC), launched in 2022 to bring together motorcycles and cars under the same banner. It is in this competition that this new South African Safari Rally (May 19-24), specially created to integrate the W2RC. We find at the baguette the organizers of the national rally-raid championship, the South African Rally-Raid Championship.
The boss of the race, Archie Rutherfordtalks about “The major mechanical sports event since the 1993 Formula 1 Grand Prix” “. Moto see you crossed the South African Safari Rally teams in the Dakar and Morocco rally bivouacs, where they came under observation. Their intention is to succeed in their first to remain in the calendar, as happened in 2024 with the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, newly organized on the Iberian Peninsula.
Did you know? South Africa hosted the arrival of Dakar 1992, won by Stéphane Peterhanel. © Yamaha
Go to Sun City
The HQ of the race will be installed in the Sun City hotel complex, located 200 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg. The race will take place in the vicinity of this part of the territory. “It is a region that we know well and which offers the experience of contact with wild animal life”details Archie Rutherford. It was there that the Grand Prix of South Africa of Motocross was organized from 2004 to 2006. The world champion of Rallye-Raid 2024, Ross Branchwas already there at the time. “The bivouac will be installed where the MXGP paddock was, it’s going to be super special!” »»confides the sympathetic Botswanese driver.
The route will resume the basics of a round of the W2RC: a short prologue followed by five stages, including one (step 2) disputed in marathon format, without mechanical assistance for competitors. The competition will take place from May 19 to 24. The initially transmitted program includes 2,647 kilometers, including 1,218 of timed sections.
Part of the caravan will discover a new playground, different from the desert expanses visited during the last round dated in Abu Dhabi, at the end of February. The organization announces “A particularly green decor following recent rains, atypical textures like ‘black Turf’, an abrasive black clay land, or even off-pists in the ‘Bushveld’, an aggressive vegetation where it will be necessary to slalom with caution”. “Some great champions will have to return to the school of adaptation which is one of the original values of the rally-raid and which will be at the center of the sporting issues of this round”warns David Casteraboss of Dakar but also director of mechanical sports at ASO, the promoter of the championship.
Van Beveren Parmi Les Favoris
If the list of committed will be published in a few days, the South African Safari Rally should count on the presence ofAdrien van Beveren For the French clan. Recent third in Dakar Then fifth of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the Frenchman occupies fourth place in the world championship. 28 points separate him from the leader Daniel Sanders, winner of the first two tests. Accustomed to the W2RC, Romain Dumontier should not be in Sun City. The Norman is expected in Brazil, where he now represents Honda on the national rally championship.
