After a period of rest, the World Rally Raid Championship is back for its third round, the South African Safari Rally, which will be held from May 19 to 24 in South Africa. Brazilian Lucas Moraes will be competing alongside Spanish navigator Armand Monleon in order to stay in contention for the top-3. He is currently in third place with 63 points.
The rally will be without second-placed Yasser Al Rajhi, who is recovering from a back injury suffered in an accident at the Baja Jordan event. The Saudi driver, who won the 2025 edition of the Dakar, is 10 points ahead of Moraes. The first-placed driver, Nasser Al Attiyah, will be in contention. The Qatari driver already has 96 points and should be the Brazilian’s main opponent in South Africa. In the previous stage, in Dubai, the two duelled until the last special, but a flat tire on Moraes’s part made it easier for Al Attiyah to win.
Safari-style rally – The stage marks South Africa’s debut on the World Championship calendar. The bivouac will be located in the Sun City resort, about two hours away from the country’s capital, Pretoria. In all, the rally will have five stages totaling 1,218 km against the clock, the second of which will be a marathon. On this stage, the competitors will spend the night in the middle of the African savannah. The terrain is unknown to most, with abrasive soil in some parts and scrubland in certain sections, forming an unpredictable mix.
“It’s an unprecedented scenario for us, so everything is open. In the last two months, I’ve focused on resting and preparing for this stage. I took part in events, won my third Golden Helmet, it’s been a very intense two months. Now we’re ready to give our all for this victory, which we narrowly missed in the last round! We’re going all out to face these lions in Africa,” said Lucas, who will be alongside Armand in the Toyota GR DKR Hilux.
Automatic / AI translation of the Portuguese version
Source: BestPR Comunicação
