João Ferreira is trading in the Mini for a Toyota Hilux. On Wednesday, Toyota Gazoo Racing and SVR announced Ferreira’s addition to the roster.

He will make his debut at the South African Rally-Raid Championship’s season-opening Renault KEC 400 this weekend. A start at the Baja España Aragón in July is also planned before the World Rally-Raid Championship season resumes in September. His longtime navigator Filipe Palmeiro will remain by his side.

“This is a new chapter in my career, and it’s a project that represents a major challenge,” said Ferreira. “Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa is a benchmark team in rally raid, and I’m extremely motivated to grow within this structure. The goal is clear: to keep building on the solid progress I’ve made, give my best in every races and fight for wins.”

Ferreira had been racing a Mini for X-raid Team since 2022, winning the FIA European Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and Portuguese Cross-Country Rally Championship in his first year with them. He balanced between the CPTT, Bajas, and W2RC for X-raid—racing both their Mini and Yamaha T3—before announcing his departure on Monday.

His final start for X-raid was incidentally also in South Africa, retiring from the W2RC’s inaugural South African Safari Rally. He began 2025 with an eighth at Dakar and seventh in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, as well as winning the European Baja Cup and CPTT season openers.

SVR is responsible for building the Toyota GR DKR Hilux currently used by TGRSA and its parent team, and had moved into a new shop prior to the Safari Rally. The company is led by Shameer Variawa, whose son Saood also races in the W2RC. Ferreira’s arrival fills the void left at TGRSA by the departures of Safari Rally winner Henk Lategan, who moved to the flagship Toyota Gazoo Racing, and the venerable Giniel de Villiers.