South Africa has been selected to host a round of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), which was first launched at the 2022 Dakar Rally, with the series attracting the world’s leading superstars on two and four wheels.
The announcement made on the eve of Rallye du Maroc, the final round of the 2024 W2RC season from 5 to 11 October 2024 in the Kingdom of Morocco, heralds a new era for South African Motorsport and the South African Rally-Raid championship.
The South African Safari, round three of the 2025 W2RC is scheduled to take place from 18 to 24 May 2025 and will be preceded by the 2025 Dakar Rally before heading to Abu Dhabi in late February.
“This is an extremely exciting and very proud moment for us as organisers of the SA Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC), the numerous South Africans competing in the Dakar Rally and other international events,” said an elated Archie Rutherford, SARRC CEO. “My team put a lot of hard work, long hours and dedicated planning into Event Zero, the TGRSA Safari 1000 in June, and the outcome could not be more rewarding,” he said.
The event, in collaboration with Motorsport SA (MSA) and endorsed by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) – the governing bodies of all global motorsport, and Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the promoter of the W2RC and the organiser of the Dakar Rally, will be hosted in the North West and Limpopo provinces of South Africa.
Race headquarters and associated event facilities will be based at the world-renowned Sun City complex adjacent to the Pilanesberg National Park. This unique event will feature diverse terrain, with the race route traversing some of the most stunning bushveld plateaus, river crossings, and savannah plains, encompassing an exceptional experience for all in the areas of Sun City, Thabazimbi and the agricultural heart of North West.
