{"id":9766,"date":"2025-05-12T12:14:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T12:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/?p=9766"},"modified":"2025-05-12T12:14:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T12:14:25","slug":"one-week-to-go-sa-safari-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/one-week-to-go-sa-safari-rally\/","title":{"rendered":"One week to GO! SA Safari Rally"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOTUL BACKS THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE AS THE SA SAFARI RALLY BRINGS W2RC THRILLS TO SOUTH AFRICA. <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s one week to go before the first-ever South African Safari Rally will give Mzanzi motorsport fans the chance to watch some of their World Rally-Raid Championship and Dakar Rally heroes in action, plus the ultimate competitors in the Original by Motul class.<\/p>\n

The Original by Motul, or \u2018Malle Moto\u2019 category, is believed by aficionados to stay closest to the true spirit of rally-raid. Renowned as the hardest way to compete in rally-raid, this class involves competitors having to do all their own maintenance.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing the W2RC to South African soil is a monumental moment for local motorsport\u2014one that puts us firmly on the global rally-raid map,\u201d commented Mercia Jansen, Motul General Manager for Southern and Eastern Africa. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to fuel this spirit of endurance and passion, especially through our continued support of the Original by Motul class. This event gives South Africans a rare chance to see their rally heroes in action\u2014right here on home turf,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

There are five tough-as-nails riders signed up to compete in the Original by Motul (OBM) event: three from France (Benjamin Pousset and Matthieu Jauffraud, both riding KTM motorcycles; and Florian Bancilhon on a Yamaha); India\u2019s Jatin Jain on a KOVE motorcycle; and Xavier Gregoire from Belgium on a GasGas.<\/p>\n

In addition to access to advice and insights from Motul\u2019s onsite technical experts and unlimited Motul products (including oils, lubricants, and the MC Care range specifically formulated for motorcycles), riders in this class will also receive Motul equipment (including an environment mat, a tent to sleep in each night, and a \u201ctrommel\u201d or trunk for their personal belongings, spare parts and tools). Otherwise, of course, they\u2019re on their own when it comes to daily running repairs on their motorcycles and coping with the challenging conditions en route to the finish line.<\/p>\n

South African Charan Moore, the Original by Motul category winner at the 2023 Dakar Rally, knows just what it takes to go the distance in the class: \u201cFirstly, you need to have a very good mechanical understanding of how your bike works, because you\u2019re the one who has to fix it if it breaks. Your knowledge needs to extend across electronics, hydraulics, oil analysis, engines, suspension\u2026 the whole lot! The next critical element is being able to manage yourself and your immediate environment. Time management, body management, bike management, and nutrition are all crucial to success because fatigue is the enemy of planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SA Safari Rally will form round 3 of the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) and is taking place at the Sun City resort in North West Province from 18 – 24 May 2025. This epic event will cover 2 600 km, including the two-day marathon stage.<\/p>\n

The top motorcycle classes are expected to generate a lot of fan interest thanks to the participation of Botswana\u2019s reigning W2RC champion Ross Branch (Hero Motosports Team Rally powered by Motul) who will be looking to get his season back on track after disappointment at the Dakar and the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. South African rider Michael Docherty (Bas World KTM Racing Team) is currently lying second in the W2RC championship in the Rally 2 class and will be keen to build on his fifth-place finish at the Dakar Rally and victory in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

The car category will feature well-known names like reigning W2RC champion, five-time Dakar Rally winner and current leader of this year\u2019s W2RC championship, Nasser Al-Attiyah and navigator Edouard Boulanger. Lining up alongside them will be Spanish Dakar legends Carlos Sainz and navigator Lucas Cruz, and Nani Roma and navigator Alex Haro.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s rich rally-raid heritage will be reflected in the fact that crews from Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, Red-Lined Motorsport, Century Racing, the Schr\u00f6der WCT team, #TeamHilux and Neil Woolridge Motorsport will all be participating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe South African Safari Rally will be a tough test for competitors, machines and the lubricants that keep them moving,\u201d commented Motul\u2019s Head of Sales (SA), Taki Bogiages. \u201cAt Motul, it\u2019s never just about sponsoring an event; instead, we live it. The feedback we gain from our Factory Teams and the Original by Motul riders in these extreme conditions helps ensure we maintain our edge and keep pushing the limit of performance and reliability in Africa,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To learn more about the SA Safari Rally preparations, go to: <\/strong>https:\/\/sasafarirally.co.za\/<\/strong><\/a> and to follow the action and Motul\u2019s commitment to motorsports, check out their Instagram<\/strong><\/a> and Facebook<\/strong><\/a> pages.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Motul\u2019s product range, visit https:\/\/www.motul.com\/en-ZA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOTUL BACKS THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE AS THE SA SAFARI RALLY BRINGS W2RC THRILLS TO SOUTH AFRICA. It\u2019s one week to go before the first-ever South African Safari Rally will give Mzanzi motorsport fans the chance to watch some of their World Rally-Raid Championship and Dakar Rally heroes in action, plus the ultimate competitors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,23,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-blogs","category-featured"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Atmosphere-and-camaraderie-in-the-Original-by-Motul-bivouac-area-at-Dakar-Rally-2022-supplied-by-Motul-Aurelien-Vialatte-2s-002-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9768,"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9766\/revisions\/9768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enduroworld.co.za\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}