In 2025, Philip Botha entered the inaugural South African Safari Rally with the goal of earning his free registration for a future Dakar Rally. Alas, that didn’t work out as he ended up being one of the two DNFs in the Road to Dakar.

Fortunately, the Vryheid 400 went a lot better for him. He finished second in the T1+ class and topped the Road to Dakar, guaranteeing his entry fees for the 2028 Dakar Rally would be fully covered by the ASO.

While the Road to Dakar tends to focus on W2RC races, other rallies qualify too if approved by the ASO such as the Sonora Rally. The South African Rally-Raid Championship previously had the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race as an RtD event before being replaced by the SA Safari Rally, which was promoted to a full-fledged W2RC race in odd-numbered years.

The VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 has since assumed the SARRC’s RtD slot, awarding a Dakar ticket to the top Ultimate driver registered for the challenge. Botha had the option of either racing the 2027 Dakar or the 2028 edition, and chose the latter.

He and navigator Andries Wynhardt entered Vryheid in a Red-Lined VK56. Since taking control of the VK56, Botha has finished all 23 races that he’s entered.

“Winning the Road to Dakar is a dream come true, but doing it all the way with Red-Lined has made it even more special,” Botha commented. “From those early days in the VK50 with Roelof (Janse van Vuren) and that unbelievable 23-race finishing streak, to learning to compete across the different terrain and now to be fighting for the championship in the REVO T1+ with Stompie, the overall Red-Lined performance and reliability package has been second to none. Red-Lined gave us the tools, the support and the guidance, and now our ticket to Dakar 2028 is booked.”

Botha is also contending with teammate Johan van Staden for the SARRC national title with one race to go.

“Philip has become the poster child for what both Red-Lined and the Road to Dakar are all about,” Red-Lined boss Terence Marsh offered. “He came to us with no experience and a big dream, bought completely into our philosophy, and methodically worked his way up the ladder from our T1s into our top-tier REVO T1+ V8.

“To see Philip and Stompie win the Road to Dakar as well as fight for this year’s national SA T1+ title is hugely rewarding for all of us. It’s living proof that our training and development platform delivers.”

Featured image credit: Dave Ledbitter / Motorsport South Africa