Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon up into 3rd overall after Stage 2
Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings in 5th overall after Stage 2
Stage 2 of the 2025 South African Safari Rally served up a proper rally-raid test, as the event transitioned into the first half of its Marathon Stage. Following a tough and technical day of racing, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s (TGR) Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz (#204) now lead the overall standings, having delivered a well-controlled and resilient performance that saw them record the fourth-fastest time on the day.
The stage began with a 212km road section out of Sun City, before entering a 356km special stage en route to a remote overnight bivouac near Stella. A 55km liaison closed out the day’s travel, with competitors arriving at the Marathon camp where they are required to service and prepare their vehicles without any external assistance.
2025 South African Safary Rally – Stage 2The terrain on Stage 2 was as varied as it was demanding — nearly half the route ran across expansive grasslands, while the balance featured a combination of sand, turf, gravel and sections of tarmac. Visibility and navigation were made more difficult by long grass and the absence of well-defined tracks, especially for those running near the head of the field.
Quintero and Zenz initially struggled with a series of early errors, but settled into a strong rhythm and clawed back time in the second half of the stage. Their efforts were rewarded with the overall rally lead — albeit by a slim margin of just 13 seconds.
Teammates Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon (#203) bounced back from a subdued opening stage with a significantly improved showing. The crew benefitted from enhanced in-car communication, which allowed them to tackle the tricky navigation with greater confidence. They finished seventh-fastest, and now sit third overall, just 1min 31sec adrift of the lead.
2025 South African Safary Rally – Stage 2Stage 1 winners Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings (#205) faced the unenviable task of opening the road on Stage 2. With no clear tracks to follow and much of the route cutting through thick bushveld, the pair lost time navigating through the unmarked terrain. Despite the challenges, they completed the stage cleanly and are now fifth in the overall standings, a mere 2min 09sec behind the leader — a position that leaves them well-placed for the remaining stages.
As was the case on the opening day, all three GR Hilux EVOs performed without fault. The combination of power, reliability and durability ensured the TGR crews could focus entirely on the road ahead — and the tools and spares they had to rely on at the self-supported overnight camp.
Looking ahead, Stage 3 will see competitors return from Stella to Sun City, closing out the two-day Marathon sequence. The day includes a 246km special stage, preceded by a 9km road section and followed by a 263km liaison. With similarly diverse terrain expected and navigational complexity continuing to play a decisive role, the event remains finely poised heading into its midpoint.
Seth Quintero: “The stage started off really, really bad for us. We kept just making little mistakes around the fences and then I was like, man, it’s gonna be a long day. Got to about kilometer 60 and I looked at Dennis and I said: ‘It’s time to go. We got to figure something out here.’ And we both kind of just, you know, shut up for a second and then turned it on.”
Lucas Moraes: “Finally a better day for us. We fine-tuned some communication inside the car because yesterday we made too many mistakes. I couldn’t understand what Armand was saying basically. But then we put everything together and I think we did a good job. There was very tricky navigation as well, but Armand was the man today.”
Henk Lategan: “The first two thirds were okay because there were some actual roads to follow and then the navigation got really difficult. There was no road in some places, just really long grass that you had to go through and it made it very difficult to open the road. I think we slowed down a bit towards the end, just to make sure we get through clean. Hopefully we can have a better road position for tomorrow, if the terrain is like this then it will be difficult to open the road again.”
Source: Toyota
