2025 South African Safari Rally: Henk Lategan wins Ultimate in TGR flagship debut

Nasser Al-Attiyah’s quest for a fourth straight World Rally-Raid Championship just got a lot tougher, and his biggest adversary even missed a race.

Despite not having raced since finishing second at the season-opening Dakar Rally in January, Henk Lategan seamlessly inserted himself into the W2RC battle by winning the inaugural South African Safari Rally. On his home soil, he held off Sébastien Loeb by 1:39 to score his maiden W2RC overall win.

The race was his first for the flagship Toyota Gazoo Racing, moving over from TGR’s South African subsidiary since he wanted to pursue the full championship despite missing the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. While it took some time to get used to his Hilux again, he quickly got to work by winning the first stage.

A broken driveshaft in Stage 3 lost Lategan some ground as Loeb took the lead, but he still remained in the top three. Loeb struggled just enough the next day for Lategan to beat him by 1:09 and reclaim the lead going into the final day.

Lategan’s third in Stage 5 to Loeb’s sixth sealed the deal.

He described the race as one of “ups and downs. We had a bit of a shaky Prologue. Two days before the Prologue was the first time I drove since my last stage at Dakar. It’s probably understandable. I mean, the first time I got back in the car, we accelerated out the small bivouac we had there, I thought, ‘Jeez, this thing’s a lot quicker than what I remember.’ Today, it didn’t feel like it was going quick enough.”

With the victory, Lategan flies from fifth in the standings and 55 points behind the leader Al-Attiyah up to second and 20 back. TGR teammates Lucas Moraes and Seth Quintero maintain their spots in third and fourth, meaning Lategan basically traded places with Yazeed Al-Rajhi. The Dakar winner, Al-Rajhi was second after Abu Dhabi but missed South africa due to spinal injuries sustained at the Jordan Baja in April.

Saood Variawa and Guy Botterill, his buddies at Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, each won a stage but starting up front proved to be too difficult for them to stay competitive. As a result, they finished outside the top ten.

Loeb settled for P2, meaning the hunt for his second rally raid victory continues. Despite his successes, he has not won in the W2RC since the 2022 Andalucía Rally. The SA Safari Rally was only his third time racing in South Africa after competing in the FIA World Rallycross Championship there in 2017 and 2018.

It was a rough race for his Dacia teammate Al-Attiyah. Despite winning two stages, he struggled with penalties and starting early to finish an uncharacteristic tenth. Dacia attributed it to some growing pains as the Sandrider had exclusively competed in deserts, and the team of course wasn’t going to complain about a runner-up by Loeb.

Still, the two stage wins were a boon in the points battle since they give Al-Attiyah ten extra points. While he would still be ahead of Lategan without them, leading by 20 is obviously better than by 10.

“I am so happy for Henk to win this race,” Al-Attiyah said. “It’s very important for him, for the locals also. It’s very important. This is really important because he’s one of the best drivers in the world and I am sure he can fight for the victory in Dakar, also in the championship.”

Mini didn’t have much luck either. Guillaume de Mévius initially won Stage 2 before receiving a two-minute penalty that dropped him to third, then got another two days later because he exceeded the maximum allowed boost pressure. X-raid explained in a statement that his Mini’s torque measurement system had switched into backup mode 25 kilometers into the stage, which causes the car to run with 20 kW less power than usual so the usual turbo boosts were marked down as going over the limit.

De Mévius ultimately finished ninth while teammate João Ferreira retired due to a broken differential mount in Stage 2.

Gareth Woolridge missed the overall podium by two minutes in the debut for the NWM Evo Plus. Still, the 2023 South African Rally-Raid Champion won the Prologue and fended off former allies Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma for fourth.

Brian Baragwanath ran as high as second overall but bowed out halfway because a plug burst on his engine’s water line. Jayden Els also impressed but was out of contention due to a blown turbo.

Ex-TGRSA driver Giniel de Villiers was 16th in his first race for #TeamHilux Rally-Raid. Reigning Dakar Stock winner Akira Miura placed 19th in his W2RC debut with the Toyota Hilux Overdrive, which he ran in select Bajas in 2024.

Results

FinishOverallNumberDriverNavigatorTeamClassTotal TimeMargin
11205Henk LateganBrett CummingsToyota Gazoo RacingT1+12:10:42Leader
22219Sébastien LoebFabian LurquinDacia SandridersT1+12:12:21+ 1:39
33203Lucas MoraesArmand MonleónToyota Gazoo RacingT1+12:13:37+ 2:55
44277Gareth WoolridgeBoyd DreyerNeil Wolridge MotorsportT1+12:15:30+ 4:48
55225Carlos SainzLucas CruzFord M-SportT1+12:15:57+ 5:15
66227Nani RomaÁlex HaroFord M-SportT1+12:17:01+ 6:19
77204Seth QuinteroDennis ZenzToyota Gazoo RacingT1+12:17:27+ 6:45
88242Daniel SchröderHenry Carl KöhnePS Laser RacingT1+12:19:46+ 9:04
99222Guillaume de MéviusXavier PanseriX-raid Mini JCW TeamT1+12:22:26+ 11:44
1010200Nasser Al-AttiyahÉdouard BoulangerDacia SandridersT1+12:22:30+ 11:48
1111221Martin ProkopViktor ChytkaORLEN Jipocar TeamT1+12:29:40+ 18:58
1212212Saood VariawaFrançois CazaletToyota Gazoo Racing South AfricaT1+12:30:36+ 19:54
1313211Guy BotterillDennis MurphyToyota Gazoo Racing South AfricaT1+12:31:41+ 20:59
1414207Juan Cruz YacopiniDaniel OliverasOverdrive RacingT1+12:34:38+ 23:56
1517239Fouché BlignautBertus Blignaut#TeamHilux Rally-RaidT1+12:59:19+ 48:37
1618206Giniel de VilliersLeander Pienaar#TeamHilux Rally-RaidT1+13:02:57+ 52:15
1719218Hernán GarcésJuan Pablo LatrachOverdrive RacingT1+13:03:58+ 53:16
1823243Jürgen SchröderStuart GregoryPS Laser RacingT1+13:27:23+ 1:16:41
1925220Akira MiuraJean-Michel PolatoOverdrive RacingT1+13:44:19+ 1:33:37
2027232Danie LudickDenzil WilliamsonRed-Lined MotorsportT1+13:52:40+ 1:41:58
2128210Rik van den BrinkGydo HeimansCentury RacingT1+14:09:27+ 1:58:45
2230233Gerhardt HeinleinRudi HeinleinRed-Lined MotorsportT1.114:15:40+ 2:04:58
2331234Nickus HeinleinJaco KrielRed-Lined MotorsportT1.114:17:08+ 2:06:26
2432230Dave KlaassenTessa KlaassenDaklaPack RallysportT1+14:17:34+ 2:06:52
2536245Jan KraaijGerhard SchutteCentury RacingT1.216:09:24+ 3:58:42
2644217Denis KrotovKonstantin ZhiltsovOverdrive RacingT1+34:17:50+ 22:07:08
2745223Rients HofstraWade HarrisRed-Lined MotorsportT1+35:41:58+ 23:31:16
2846209Mathieu SerradoriLoïc MinaudierSerradori Racing TeamT1+39:51:47+ 27:41:05
2947229Jayden ElsJohan SwemmerRed-Lined MotorsportT1+60:42:07+ 48:31:25
3048244Johan van StadenSean van StadenKEC RacingT1.161:31:25+ 49:20:43
DNFDNF208Brian BaragwanathLeonard CremerCentury RacingT1+DNFN/A
DNFDNF231Philip BothaRoelof Janse van VurenRed-Lined MotorsportT1+DNFN/A
DNFDNF235Benoît FretinCédric DupleYDEO CompétitionT1.2DNFN/A
DNFDNF240João FerreiraFilipe PalmeiroX-raid Mini JCW TeamT1+DNFN/A
DNFDNF269Johan de BruynAdriaan RoetsJohan de Bruyn RacingT1.1DNFN/A
DNFDNF276Marcos BaumgartKleber CinceaNeil Wolridge MotorsportT1+DNFN/A
* – Not competing for World Rally-Raid Championship

Stage winners

StageOverallDriverTime
Prologue1Gareth Woolridge*6:48.1
Stage 11Henk Lategan2:26:08
Stage 21Guy Botterill3:12:36
Stage 31Nasser Al-Attiyah2:51:29
Stage 41Saood Variawa2:09:05
Stage 51Nasser Al-Attiyah1:08:49

W2RC

Ultimate does not have a class trophy and is instead part of a larger championship that includes all categories.

Drivers

RankDriverPointsMargin
1Nasser Al-Attiyah114Leader
2Henk Lategan94– 20
3Lucas Moraes89– 25
4Seth Quintero79– 35
5Yazeed Al-Rajhi73– 41
6Juan Cruz Yacopini46– 68
7Mattias Ekström45– 69
8Mitch Guthrie44– 70
T-9João Ferreira40– 74
T-9Sébastien Loeb40– 74
T-11Mathieu Serradori32– 82
T-11Saood Variawa32– 82
13Guillaume de Mévius31– 83
14Carlos Sainz28– 86
15Nani Roma27– 87
16Martin Prokop25– 89
T-17Dania Akeel20– 94
T-17Daniel Schröder20– 94
19Pau Navarro17– 97
20Rokas Baciuška16– 98
21Guy Botterill14– 100
22Adam Kuś13– 101
23Yasir Seaidan12– 102
24Nicolás Cavigliasso11– 103
T-25Enrico Gaspari10– 104
T-25Denis Krotov10– 104
T-27Michele Cinotto8– 106
T-27Claude Fournier8– 106
T-27Eryk Goczał8– 106
T-27Puck Klaassen8– 106
T-27Alexandre Pinto8– 106
T-27Eduard Pons8– 106
T-33Khalifa Al-Attiyah7– 107
T-33Khalid Al-Jafla7– 107
T-33Mário Franco7– 107
T-36Cristina Gutiérrez6– 108
T-36Dave Klaassen6– 108
T-38Gonçalo Guerreiro5– 109
T-38David Zille5– 109
T-40Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari4– 110
T-40Manuel Andújar4– 110
T-40Lionel Baud4– 110
T-40Jean-Luc Ceccaldi4– 110
T-40Roger Grouwels4– 110
T-40Corbin Leaverton4– 110
T-40Sara Price4– 110
T-40Guoyu Zhang4– 110
48Pedro Gonçalves3– 111
T-49Mansour Al-Helei2– 112
T-49Rui Carneiro2– 112
T-49Diego Martinez2– 112
T-49Carlos Vento2– 112
T-49Fernando Álvarez2– 112
54Marek Goczał1– 113

Navigators

RankNavigatorPointsMargin
1Édouard Boulanger114Leader
2Brett Cummings94– 20
3Armand Monleón89– 25
4Dennis Zenz79– 35
5Timo Gottschalk73– 41
6Daniel Oliveiras46– 68
7Emil Bergkvist45– 69
8Kellon Walch44– 70
T-9Fabian Lurquin40– 74
T-9Filipe Palmeiro40– 74
T-11François Cazalet32– 82
T-11Loïc Minaudier32– 82
13Lucas Cruz28– 86
14Álex Haro27– 87
15Viktor Chytka25– 89
16Oriol Mena24– 90
T-17Stéphane Duplé20– 94
T-17Henry Carl Köhne20– 94
19Xavier Panseri17– 97
20Mathieu Baumel16– 98
21Dennis Murphy14– 100
22Dmytro Tsyro13– 101
23Michaël Metge12– 102
T-24Valentina Pertegarini11– 103
T-24Jan Rosa i Viñas11– 103
26Konstantin Zhiltsov10– 104
T-27Jaume Betriu8– 106
T-27Charan Moore8– 106
T-27Bernardo Oliveira8– 106
T-30Bruno Jacomy7– 107
T-30Andrei Rudnitski7– 107
T-32Tessa Klaassen6– 108
T-32Pablo Moreno6– 108
T-32Fausto Mota6– 108
T-32Lisandro Sisterna6– 108
T-36Sebastian Cesana5– 109
T-36Cadu Sachs5– 109
T-38Nasser Al-Kuwari4– 110
T-38Lucie Baud4– 110
T-38Sean Berriman4– 110
T-38Alberto Bertoldi4– 110
T-38Delphine Delfino4– 110
T-38Maurizio Dominella4– 110
T-38Rui Franco4– 110
T-38Bernardo Graue4– 110
T-38Patrick Jimbert4– 110
T-38Antoine Lecourbe4– 110
T-38Rudolf Meijer4– 110
T-38Taye Perry4– 110
T-38Grégory Revest-Arnoux4– 110
T-38Yicheng Wang4– 110
T-52Hugo Magalhães3– 111
T-52João Miranda3– 111
T-54Khalid Al-Kendi2– 112
T-54Jorge Brandão2– 112
T-54Ola Fløene2– 112
T-54Sergio Lafuente2– 112
58Maciej Marton1– 113

Manufacturers

RankManufacturerPointsMargin
1Toyota311Leader
2Dacia219– 92
3Ford190– 121

Featured image credit: Edoardo Bauer / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO

Leave a comment