The Daniel Sanders renaissance continued in South Africa as he led a KTM 1–2 finish at the inaugural South African Safari Rally. He remains the only bike overall winner of the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship after taking the Dakar Rally and Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in the winter.
Sanders set the pace early by winning the Prologue. Save for Stage 1 when he received a two-minute penalty for missing a waypoint, he held the overall lead for the entirety of the rally thanks to his three consecutive stage victories.
His KTM teammate Luciano Benavides finished right behind him during his Stage 2 win and never gave up his spot either. Sanders’ stage wins allowed him to build a cushion on Benavides with each day, and the latter’s goal became to keep the Hondas at bay.
With KTM being essentially pulled out of its financial troubles on Thursday, the same day that Sanders won Stage 3, things are looking bright for the orange manufacturer.
“It’s been definitely a rally to remember,” said Sanders. “It’s been really cool. Was probably my first one with the fans and everyone behind this event (being) so passionate. That’s why it’s here: everyone brought it here and made it such a welcoming race. It’s something that I’ve been missing since jumping in here, like the fans on the fence lines and all the farmers. It’s been awesome. The support is crazy and everyone’s got a smile on their face wherever you go. Everyone’s happy. That’s probably the best thing. This country loves motorsport as we do as racers as well.
“[KTM’s] done magnificent the last year and we’ve turned things around. We’re on a good streak at the moment and it was really nice to check out South Africa for my first time. Hopefully, I’ll be back racing again in a couple years.”
Besides trying to chase down Benavides, the Hondas scrapped among themselves for the final step on the podium. Adrien Van Beveren was initially the top red rider when he finished second to Ross Branch in Stage 1, but Ricky Brabec closed the gap before passing him on the third day as Van Beveren struggled with navigation errors. Van Beveren regained third in Stage 4 as Brabec encountered exhaust issues and crashed twice, with only 25 seconds between them going into the last day.
Brabec beat Sanders by 42 seconds to win Stage 5 and secure third. Van Beveren, whose roadbook tablet glitched out that day, settled for fourth.
Honda’s Tosha Schareina withdrew because of a crash in Stage 1 that hurt his hand. Consequently, he goes from being Sanders’ biggest threat in the W2RC to sitting in fifth, 42 points back. Benavides and Brabec are now tied for second behind Sanders.
“This rally was not perfect for our riders,” said Monster Energy Honda HRC manager Ruben Faria after the final stage. “Tosha crashed on the first day, Ricky had some problems and crashed on the marathon stage, Adrien also suffered with the navigation issues today and for Skyler (Howes), the terrain was not was he was used to, so the first few days were difficult for him to have the best set up. Overall though, it was good for Ricky to finish on the podium at this rally.
“Now, we need to focus on Portugal in September. I hope Tosha recovers quickly and is back to full fitness soon. We will keep working to have a better result there.”
Despite the Stage 1 win, Branch was ultimately last of the eight RallyGP riders who reached the finish. He ran over a bird in Stage 2 that damaged his oil cooler and knocked him off his rhythm. It was another addition to a challenging title defense for the Botswanan, who crashed out of Dakar and retired from Abu Dhabi with a clutch failure.
South Africa native Bradley Cox finished seventh in his debut as a Sherco factory rider. He started off fairly slow with a mistake-plagued Stage 1 while trying to get used to his new bike, but gradually improved his pace each day. This culminated in a fifth on the final day.
Results
| Finish | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Daniel Sanders | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 13:27:44 | Leader |
| 2 | 2 | 77 | Luciano Benavides | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 13:36:39 | + 8:55 |
| 3 | 3 | 9 | Ricky Brabec | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 13:37:44 | + 10:00 |
| 4 | 4 | 42 | Adrien Van Beveren | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 13:43:31 | + 15:47 |
| 5 | 5 | 10 | Skyler Howes | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 14:03:32 | + 35:48 |
| 6 | 6 | 11 | José Ignacio Cornejo | Hero MotoSports | 14:13:46 | + 46:02 |
| 7 | 8 | 12 | Bradley Cox | Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team | 14:27:46 | + 1:00:02 |
| 8 | 11 | 1 | Ross Branch | Hero MotoSports | 15:23:03 | + 1:55:19 |
| DNF | DNF | 68 | Tosha Schareina | Monster Energy Honda HRC | DNF | N/A |
Stage winners
| Stage | Overall | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | 1 | Daniel Sanders | 7:08.1 |
| Stage 1 | 1 | Ross Branch | 2:44:04 |
| Stage 2 | 1 | Daniel Sanders | 3:40:30 |
| Stage 3 | 1 | Daniel Sanders | 3:06:46 |
| Stage 4 | 1 | Daniel Sanders | 2:22:13 |
| Stage 5 | 1 | Ricky Brabec | 1:23:17 |
W2RC
Riders
| Rank | Rider | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Sanders | 88 | Leader |
| T-2 | Luciano Benavides | 53 | – 35 |
| T-2 | Ricky Brabec | 53 | – 35 |
| 4 | Adrien Van Beveren | 48 | – 40 |
| 5 | Tosha Schareina | 46 | – 42 |
| 6 | Skyler Howes | 35 | – 53 |
| 7 | José Ignacio Cornejo | 34 | – 54 |
| 8 | Bradley Cox | 9 | – 79 |
| 9 | Ross Branch | 8 | – 80 |
Manufacturers
| Rank | Manufacturer | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KTM | 141 | Leader |
| 2 | Honda | 119 | – 22 |
| 3 | Hero | 42 | – 99 |
Featured image credit: Matteo Gebbia / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO
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