World Rally-Raid Championship 2025: SA event added to calendar

If you like your motorsport on the dusty side, you will be excited to hear that the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) will head to South Africa in May next year with a brand-new event.

The South African Safari Rally, which forms round three of the 2025 W2RC, will take place from 18 to 24 May 2025 and will be preceded by the 2025 Dakar Rally in January before heading to Abu Dhabi in late February. This will be the first time in the history of the W2RC that Africa sets the scene for two championship rounds.

Attracting the world’s leading superstars on two and four wheels, the rally will be hosted in the Northwest and Limpopo provinces of South Africa and will be held 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,

Reacting to the announcement, Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, released a statement saying: “This event is going to boost tourism for South Africa, generate income to grow the sport in South Africa, help to create jobs in rural areas and put the country back on the map for global motorsport. In our quest to secure the return of Formula One, a successful Safari Rally will only help to strengthen our burgeoning relationship with the FIA.”

Race headquarters and associated event facilities will be based at the Sun City complex adjacent to the Pilanesberg National Park. The 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 Northwest.

Vic Maharaj, Motorsport South Africa Chief Executive Officer says this announcement heralds a new era for South African motorsport and the South African Rally Raid Championship (SARRC). “Significantly South Africa and the SARRC have a proud reputation in the international world rally raid arena. With no less than 50% of vehicles competing in the iconic Dakar Rally and the esteemed W2RC events being designed, developed and built in South Africa, it is fitting that we finally can host one of the rounds of this iconic championship on home ground,” he commented.

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