Honda & Hero rally teams dialed for WRRC’s South African Safari Rally

Following a couple month hiatus, the 2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship gets back underway beginning this Sunday, May 18^th, with the inaugural running of the South African Safari Rally.

Based out of Sun City, South Africa, the seven-day endurance off-road contest, a collaboration between Motorsport SA and the FIM, along with Amaury Sport Organization, will cover some 1,600 kilometers of Special sections from the drier and dusty regions of central South Africa to elevated regions in the more fertile mountain areas in and around Pilanesberg National Park.

Mapped out by the seven-time South African XC champ, Evan Hutchinson, the race is a dream come true for defending WRRC GP class champion, Monster Energy’s own South African countryman Ross Branch (Hero).

From Branch…

“It’s almost race time again and I can’t wait! It’s been too long and I’ve definitely got ants in the pants and gotta go racing! (Laughter) … Can’t wait to hang it out there with everybody, be back with my rally family and, obviously best of all, South Africa is pretty much home race for me. So I’m super excited to welcome the rally family to this part of the world. It’s the first time the series is going to be held in southern Africa, so at least everybody can see what our racing is about and what our beautiful landscapes are like. Super-hot, super tough race. Lot of rain in the past couple of months. More than we’ve had in the past 25 years, so the bush is going to be super over grown. Tough as hell to race. Tough on the body. And we’re gonna get out ass kicked by all the thorn bushes out there – I can promise you that! (Laughter) It’s not going to be an easy one, but it’s going to be an exciting one. I think the racing’s going to be super close and they’re expecting thousands and thousands of people out on the route and I just hope I can go out there and make my sponsors and my team and my friends and family happy and proud.”

Keep in mind also that Branch is coming off a gnarbuckle crash at Dakar that not only landed him in the hospital, but also took a great deal of time – much more than he anticipated – to heal up.

“It’s been a really tough couple of months since the Dakar crash. We had a bit of an on going issue. I had three vertebrae broken in my back, so it wasn’t a really good frame. So those are fully healed now, but it has taken a lot longer than we expected. Lot of time off the bike. But I’m really fully recovered. The broken wrist is fully recovered. The concussion is fully recovered. So we are all set to go. Haven’t had as much time on the bike as I’d have liked. Only ridden a couple hundred Ks (kilometer), and not the couple of thousand (Ks) that I’d really have liked to get ready for this race. But the spirit is high. Happy again that the injury is in the rear view mirror. Now it’s time to go out and mix some gas and kick some ass!”

Branch will be joined in South Africa by his Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy teammates Jose “Nacho” Cornejo in the GP class and newly added Tobias Ebster in the GP2 class.

Chasing the defending champion on his homeland trails will be the juggernaut Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally team, featuring the No. 2 and No. 3 racers in the overall GP class standings – Tosha Schareina and Ricky Brabec.

Said Schareina in advance of the South African Safari Rally: 

“I’m pretty happy to get back to this race after that big break after Abu Dhabi (Round 2 of WRRC). I think all the riders are so excited to visit a new country, South Africa. We expect a wide race with all of that landscape, savannah. The race, I think, will be pretty interesting and pretty wild at the same time. A lot of tracks. A lot of piste. More like Argentina style. Which is good for me because I like that kind of terrain. I think we are ready to give it the gas.”

Added Brabec: “Thoughts of the new South Africa Rally? Seems pretty cool. We have been to Morocco plenty of times and we are going back, later this year. But, South Africa seems like a great addition to the calendar. It might be a pretty exotic round from the sounds of it from a few other competitors who live down there, so I'm excited to see what it's about. As far as terrain, I’m not too sure what to expect. But I have heard it's a lot of road style racing, which is also fun as it's not just the open desert. We will see as the racing goes, but I'm happy to adventure to a new region and get back with the team after a few months break. The break was nice but also a little long in my opinion. I'm a little curious about the wild life there as we will be racing down these trails and roads that the animals probably wonder on, and we won't be going to slow, so it'll be a challenge to stay focus on navigating the terrain and possibly the wildlife (Laughter). Looking forward to this one and happy to get back to it.”

Joining Schareina and Brabec in South Africa with Monster Energy/Honda HRC Rally will be Adrien Van Beveren, Pablo Quintanilla and Skyler Howes. 

Monster Energy WRRC Motorcycle GP class standings (after Dakar & Abu Dhabi)

Place/Name/Team

2^nd – Tosha Schareina (Monster Energy/Honda), 46 points          

3^rd – Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy/Honda), 37 points                

4^th – Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy/Honda), 35 points

6^th – Skyler Howes (Monster Energy/Honda), 24 points

6^th – Jose “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero/Monster Energy), 24 points

2025 FIM World Rally-Raid GP2 class standings 

1^st – Tobias Ebster (Hero/Monster Energy), 46 points

Up next…

The FIM World Rally Raid Championship moves to South Africa for the inaugural running of the South African Safary Rally, May 18-24. For more information, including “Live” timing and scoring, visit www.worldrallyraidchampionship.com