Ross Branch is ecstatic that the South African Safari Rally will visit his home country of Botswana.

Ahead of the Rallye du Maroc’s Prologue on Monday, SA Safari Rally organizer Archie Rutherford announced Stages 2 and 3 of the 2027 edition will be held in Botswana. Sun City Resort in South Africa will continue hosting the start and finish.

Those two stages will be run under marathon rules. The route is to go through the districts of Kgatleng and Kweneng, with an overnight stay in the bush. While a specific route length will not be revealed until closer to race time, SS2 is expected to be around 430 kilometers and SS3 at 360 km.

“It’s been a lifelong dream to race a World Championship round in Botswana, so to have two stages means the absolute world to me,” said Branch. “I’m so happy that my W2RC family gets to meet and see my home and my Botswana family, and all the people around this country that makes motorsport so special. We definitely have some of the best spectators in the world, and they will come in large numbers to watch the W2RC.

“For me, of course, racing at home will be incredible and to show everybody how beautiful our country is. The terrain is going to be changing so much. There’s so many different varied terrains throughout Botswana, and it’s going to be really interesting how often it changes, and it’s going to give a different challenge to all the competitors coming here. I’ve raced all over the world, but nothing compares racing in our own land with our people behind me. I’m looking forward to it.”

While South Africa is known as a rally raid hotbed, its neighbor loves the sport too. The Botswana Off Road Racing Championship serves as the country’s national series, while the South African Rally-Raid Championship’s TGR 1000 Desert Race was long held in Botswana. The latter was replaced by the TGRSA Safari 1000 held back in South Africa for 2024 as the SARRC’s audition to get onto the W2RC calendar with the SA Safari Rally in 2025.

Botswana will be the ninth different country that the W2RC races through. Besides South Africa, this company includes Argentina (Desafío Ruta 40), Mexico (Sonora Rally), Morocco (Rallye du Maroc), Portugal (Rally-Raid Portugal), Saudi Arabia (Dakar Rally), Spain (Andalucía Rally and Rally-Raid Portugal), and the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge).

Scheduled for June 14–19, the SA Safari Rally will be the third round of the 2027 World Rally-Raid Championship. It is held every odd-numbered year on an alternating basis with the Desafío Ruta 40.

“We have a long history with racing in Botswana,” Rutherford commented. “We’ve raced there for the last 30 years as part of our South African national championship. The people of Botswana are absolute motorsport enthusiasts, they love rally raid and come by the thousands to see us every year. It is therefore an immense pleasure and a privilege to travel to Botswana during the 2027 South African Safari Rally.”

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