João Ferreira’s much anticipated debut with Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa ended with a waterlogged Toyota Hilux engine.

Ferreira joined TGRSA in late June, moving over from X-raid, before making his first start at last weekend’s Renault KEC 400. It was also his first time competing in the South African Rally-Raid Championship, returning to the country after a disappointing end to the South African Safari Rally in May.

Unfortunately, he ended up repeating the same fate. After ranking seventh in qualifying, his race was upended in Stage 1 when he missed the braking point on a lefthand turn and went into a small river. Teammate Saood Variawa pointed out that it “was just one of those things. A tricky corner caught a few of us out.”

Water got into the engine, clogging it and preventing Ferreira from continuing the race.

“The team did the best they could during all the night and even now in the morning, but it was too much water and unfortunately we cannot start,” Ferreira explained. “I want to apologize to the team because it was our first race. I didn’t want to finish like this. At the same time, thanks again to them because they’ve been amazing, super amazing to me, pushing hard until the last moment.

“Now, let’s start to work for Baja Aragón and make some tests to get more used to the car.”

With Ferreira out of the picture, his TGRSA colleagues had to pick things up in his stead. Variawa, who placed ninth in qualifying, was third by the end of the day. A two-minute penalty and two flat tires ultimately cost him as he settled for second, 2:38 back of Gareth Woolridge. Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena, the latter also a newcomer to TGRSA, was set back by a power steering failure on Saturday.

Giniel de Villiers was third. While no longer with TGRSA, he’s still in a Toyota Hilux as a member of #TeamHilux Rally-Raid. His teammate Fouché Blugnaut, who won the Safari Rally’s Road to Dakar, topped the Prologue before suffering rear damper damage on a hard landing that cost him time.

Woolridge’s overall win was the first for Neil Woolridge Motorsport’s new NWM Evo Plus. The Ford car had debuted at the Safari Rally, where it won the Prologue. Lance Woolridge put another Evo Plus in the top five.

Pim Klaassen retired from the race after a bizarre yet scary road accident. After the Saturday morning stage, he was on the liaison when another car uninvolved with the race tried to pass him as he made a righthand turn, crashing into him. Everyone was unharmed.

The Renault KEC 400 was the first round of the 2025 SARRC. The season was supposed to begin with the Vryheid 400 in March but was delayed due to deadly storms.

Overall results

Finish	Number	Driver	Navigator	Team	Vehicle	Total Time	Margin
1	277	Gareth Woolridge	Boyd Dreyer	Neil Woolridge Motorsport	NWM Evo Plus	6:07:24	Leader
2	208	Saood Variawa	François Cazalet	Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa	Toyota Hilux IMT EVO	6:10:02	+ 2:38
3	202	Giniel de Villiers	Leander Pienaar	#TeamHilux Rally-Raid	Toyota DKR Hilux T1+ EVO	6:11:05	+ 3:41
4	224	Daniel Schröder	Henry Köhne	Daniel Schröder	WCT Volkswagen Amarok	6:14:23	+ 6:59
5	205	Lance Woolridge	Andre Vermeulen	Neil Woolridge Motorsport	NWM Evo Plus	6:15:46	+ 8:22
6	300	Johan Horn	Werner Horn	#TeamHilux Rally-Raid	Toyota Hilux	6:22:12	+ 14:48
7	217	Marcos Baumgart	Kleber Cincea	Neil Woolridge Motorsport	NWM Evo Plus	6:28:38	+ 21:14
8	602	Puck Klaassen	Danie Stassen	Puck Klaassen	GRally OT3	6:37:01	+ 29:37
9	208	Johan van Staden	Sean van Staden	Johan van Staden	Renault Duster	6:39:34	+ 32:10
10	375	Marko Himmel	François Schoonbee	Marko Himmel	Red-Lined Navara Evo	7:06:36	+ 59:12
11	401	Johan de Bruyn	Adriaan Rots	Johan de Bruyn	Red-Lined REVO T1	7:26:29	+ 1:19:05
12	428	Nickus Heinlein	Jaco Kriel	Nickus Heinlein	Red-Lined VK56	7:31:44	+ 1:24:20
13	305	Danie Ludick	Dewil Williamson	Red-Lined Motorsport	Red-Lined REVO T1+	7:34:48	+ 1:27:24
14	404	Vincent Vorkink	Dave Berghmans	Red-Lined Motorsport	Red-Lined VK56	7:56:32	+ 1:51:37
15	201	Guy Botterill	Oriol Mena Valdearcos	Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa	Toyota Hilux IMT EVO	12:19:15	+ 6:11:51
16	250	Jayden Els	Johan Swemmer	Red-Lined Motorsport	Red-Lined REVO T1+ GTR	15:51:41	+ 9:44:17
17	239	Fouché Blugnaut	Bertus Blignaut	#TeamHilux Rally-Raid	Toyota DKR Hilux T1+	16:07:43	+ 10:00:19
DNF	200	Gerhard Heinlein	Rudi Heinlein	Rudi Heinlein	Red-Lined VK56	DNF	N/A
DNF	220	João Ferreira	Filipe Palmeiro	Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa	Toyota Hilux IMT EVO	DNF	N/A
DNF	223	Rients Hofstra	Evert Boersma	Red-Lined Motorsport	Red-Lined REVO T1+ GTR	DNF	N/A
DNF	234	Pim Klaassen	Gerhard Schutte	DaklaPack Rallysport	Taurus T3 Max	DNF	N/A
DNF	371	Cor Kraamwinkel	Armand du Toit	King Price Xtreme	Volkswagen Amarok	DNF	N/A
DNF	634	Dave Klaassen	Tessa Klaassen	DaklaPack Rallysport	Red-Lined REVO T1+ GTR	DNF	N/A

Featured image credit: SVR / Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa