Stage three of the 2025 South African Safari Rally saw Red Bull KTM’s Daniel Sanders dominate the bush tracks like they were home turf, taking the win ahead of teammate Luciano Benavides, with Hero MotoSports’ Ross Branch rounding out the podium in third.

2025 South African Safari Rally day 3 in a nutshell:

Stage three took the field on a 518km journey (including 246km against the clock) back to Sun City, the race HQ, which the competitors had departed yesterday morning for two long stages under marathon rules.

Riders who can win a stage from the front are rare but we reckon it is partly down to his enduro heritage and partly due to his Outback experience on a dirt bike that Daniel Sanders is leading this week in South Africa.

Conditions are very different to the dunes and deserts of Saudi where the Red Bull KTM rider claimed a maiden Dakar victory earlier this year. Farm tracks, ruts, bush and savannah plains all must look pretty familiar to those Aussie eyes behind the FOX goggles.

Sanders hammered home a decisive victory on stage three, the second half of the marathon stage. Despite starting first and opening the way (a task other riders have struggled with so far this week) Chucky bettered his teammate Luciano Benavides by 1′37″ and the resurgent Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) 2′39″ back.

After his bird versus oil cooler issues yesterday (Ross had to bypass the broken oil cooler on his engine which took 1hr30m but was good enough for the Botswanan to ride over 600km), the Hero team will change the engine incuring a further 15 minute penalty. 

The KTM king pin now holds a 2′48″ margin over Benavides in the overall standings with Honda’s Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren locked in a struggle for the podium at 8′19″ and 9′24″ back as the HRC pairing switch places scratch today. Skyler Howes moves into complete the top five overall but sits almost half an hour off the pace.

Rally 2: Canet in a league of his own

Edgar Canet scooped up another win in class with P9 overall today. The KTM rookie holds a sizeable advantage over the Hero factory rider Tobias Ebster at 18′16″ with Michael Docherty (BAS World KTM) 20′08″ back.

Ruy Barbosa (Xraids Experience), a star from Chile, steps up to fourth place, 54′45″ off the pace, with Konrad Dąbrowski (BAS World KTM) just six seconds down.

Frenchman Florian Bancilhon, seventh astride the only Yamaha in the field, continues to dominate the class for riders without service crews (Malle Moto).

Stage 4 will be the longest of the week at a total of 694 km, including 224 km against the clock.

2025 South African Safari Rally Stage 3 results:

Provisional Standings After Stage 3

1          SANDERS Daniel          4          AUS     KTM Factory Racing Team      09:41:32

2          BENAVIDES Luciano    1          ARG     KTM Factory Racing Team      + 02:48

3          BRABEC Ricky              9          USA     Monster Energy Honda HRC   + 08:19

4          VAN BEVEREN Adrien 42        FRA      Monster Energy Honda HRC   + 09:24

5          HOWES Skyler             10        USA     Monster Energy Honda HRC   + 29:32

6          CORNEJO José Ignacio 11        CHI      Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 32:12

7          CANET Edgar               73        SPA      KTM Factory Racing Team      + 35:40

8          COX Bradley                12        RSA      Sherco TVS Rally Team           + 51:29

9          EBSTER Tobias             96        AUS     Hero Motorsports Team Rally + 53:56          

10        DOCHERTY Michael    22        RSA      BAS World KTM Team            + 56:48

Photo Credit: Edo Bauer + Helena Clancy