The second special stage of the South African Safari Rally, held in the savannas of South Africa, brought a shake-up in the overall standings on Wednesday (21st). Brazilian driver Lucas Moraes and his co-driver, Spaniard Armand Monleon, delivered one of the most consistent performances among the World Rally-Raid Championship contenders, climbing to third overall after finishing the stage with the seventh-fastest time.
The first day of the marathon stage featured extensive stretches of savanna, which made up 52% of the 626 km route—357 km of which were timed. With numerous holes and obstacles, tire preservation became a critical challenge, especially since tire changes are not allowed during the marathon stage rest period.
The rally remains unpredictable. The day’s victory went to the South African duo Guy Botterill and Dennis Variawa, just as another South African pair, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings, won the day before. Botterill and Variawa completed the course in 3h12m36s, closely followed by fellow South African Saood Variawa and French co-driver François Cazalet, just 55 seconds behind. Guillaume de Mevius and Xavier Panseri rounded out the top three of the stage, finishing 1m48s off the lead.
An unpredictable rally indeed—Lucas Moraes finished seventh in this opening half of the marathon, 7m13s behind the leaders in his Toyota Gazoo Racing vehicle. Still, the result was strong enough to propel him from sixth to third in the overall standings.
Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz now lead the rally with a total time of 5h49m23s. The pair jumped from tenth to first in just one day. In second are South Africans Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer, just 13 seconds back. Moraes and Monleon are now third overall, trailing the leaders by 1m31s.
Tomorrow’s route promises more challenges, as drivers aim to avoid penalties—already a major obstacle for top names like Nasser Al Attiyah, who has been penalized twice for missing mandatory waypoints.
“I thought the terrain would be more similar to Brazil, but it’s quite different. It’s been a real challenge, a tough rally. The key to the marathon stage is being smart with the tires and keeping up a strong pace. It’s going to be a cold night out in the savanna, so I’ll try to get some rest and stay sharp for tomorrow,” said Moraes.
According to the organizers, tomorrow’s route includes 246 km of timed racing and a total of 518 km. After the marathon stage wraps up, competitors face 224 km on Friday and 118 km in Saturday’s special stage, which marks the end of this unprecedented World Championship challenge in South Africa.
Automatic /AI translation of the Portuguese version
Source: Lucas Moraes / BestPR
