2025 South African Safari Rally results: Ross Branch grabs W2RC Stage 1 win amid chaos
Results from stage one of the 2025 South African Safari Rally, round three of the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship where fast starting Hero MotoSports’ Ross Branch took the day win ahead of Monster Energy Honda HRC Team’s Adrien Van Beveren and Ricky Brabec – Red Bull KTM’s Daniel Sanders denied stage win after missing waypoint.
2025 South African Safari Rally stage one in a nutshell:
- We’re used to a lot of tooing and froing in Rally-Raid World Championship results, and some unusual shenanigans during the stages, but today was a good one at the 2025 South African Safari Rally.
- Reported leaking fuel tank on HRC factory Honda, gates closed on the course (riders had to open themselves), locals stopping riders in the stage, all this as well as the usual missed waypoints and flyer from the “local” to claim the headlines are just some of the highlights from day one proper at the third W2RC round of the season.
- If you’d been out for a trail or adventure ride it would be great but in a world championship? We’re not so sure.
- With the course being more mixed than we see at other rallies – 17% sandy tracks, 17% savannah, 15% black turf and 37% of hard tracks today – and no time bonuses on this rally for the openers it looked more like an enduro or hare and hound race than normal.
- Yesterday’s prologue finishing order saw winner, Red Bull KTM’s Daniel Sanders, taking P4 behind his young teammate Edgar Canet, Hero MotoSports’ Ross Branch second and KTM’s Luciano Benavides first away at 8:30 local time.
- Behind them were the ranks of Honda riders: Tosha Schareina, Adrien Van Beveren and Ricky Brabec all muscling in early on the top of the leaderboard.
- As the riders got into the thick of the stage, Botswanan Branch already held the lead with Schareina and Van Beveren hunting.
- As they headed towards the finish (260km in total) Ricky Brabec joined the party and closed in with relentless pace to reduce Branch’s advantage.
- Sanders was also making up for the slowish start, steadily chipping away at the leader’s time to eventually, provisionally, take the stage by five seconds ahead of Brabec and Branch who finished with identical times.
- However, plot twist, Sanders was quickly found to have missed a waypoint earlier in the stage and gets docked two minutes as a consequence.
- At the same time several riders were coming home and reporting gates were closed as they arrived including Hero MotoSports’ world champion, Ross Branch. The Botswanan was duly awarded time back and took the day win.
- Starting in 12th place and despite some roadbook issues, Adrien Van Beveren put enduro skills to use to claim a solid result just under one minute behind the leader and followed by teammate Brabec 14s further adrift.
- Despite being late to the start after reporting in sick, Michael Docherty was quickly challenging the early leader, Edgar Canet, in Rally 2 class with Hero MotoSports’ new recruit Toby Ebster not far off in third.
- Docherty, on home South African soil, claimed the win just under a minute ahead of Ebster and eventually over two minutes clear of Canet for the class stage one podium.
- Stage two tomorrow features a lengthy 357km timed special, west across the savanna plains toward the marathon camp overnight (meaning no outside assistance).
2025 South African Safari Rally Stage 1 results:
Provisional Standings After Stage 1
1 BRANCH Ross 16 BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally 02:51:32
2 VAN BEVEREN Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 00:50
3 BRABEC Ricky 9 USA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 01:03
4 SANDERS Daniel 4 AUS KTM Factory Racing Team + 02:44
5 BENAVIDES Luciano 1 ARG KTM Factory Racing Team + 03:23
6 SCHAREINA Tosha 68 SPA Monster Energy Honda HRC + 07:35
7 CORNEJO José Ignacio 11 CHI Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 07:50
8 CANET Edgar 73 SPA KTM Factory Racing Team + 11:48
9 EBSTER Tobias 96 AUS Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 12:06
10 DABROWSKI Konrad 26 POL BAS World KTM Team + 16:39
Photo Credit: Edo Bauer
