The Toyota Gazoo Racing team of Guy Botterill and navigator Henry Köhne continued to lead the GR Stella 1000 Marathon

The Toyota Gazoo Racing team of Guy Botterill and navigator Henry Köhne continued to lead the GR Stella 1000 Marathon, the second round of the SA Rally-Raid Championship that plays off this weekend, 24 to 26 July in the desert-like terrain in the Stella area in the North-West Province.

The team started the second day in their Toyota Hilux IMT EVO a mere three seconds ahead of their team-mates, Saood Variawa/Charan Moore who completed the day in second place and after two days of racing and having completed almost 500 kilometres, only 55 seconds now separate these two teams at the front with one more day and 400 more kilometres still to go.

It was a tough day in the saddle for competitors who had to take on and complete Stages Three and Four totalling 420 kilometres on Saturday, 25 July and while the sandy terrain lent itself to spectacular fast racing action, it also included numerous tight sections forcing competitors to work hard for their results. The perfect set-up played a major role in the outcome of the results and competitors – and spectators alike – enjoyed the challenges, the extremely tough competition and the tricky route.

Botterill/Köhne opened the road and hit a guinea fowl early that damaged a window while the Variawa/Moore team will do some tweaking to their TGR Hilux IMT EVO suspension before the final day. The leaders have a race time of 05:08:53 and 05:09:49 respectively and will push hard for victory.

The podium looked somewhat different than at the beginning of the second day as Jayden Els/Johann Swemmer (Century Racing Factory CR7) jumped from seventh to third place (05:10:28) after a solid performance. The team now trail Variawa/Moore by a mere 39 seconds and with only 95 seconds covering the podium sitters, there is everything to race for on the third and final day.

Both the #TeamHilux Rally-Raid teams of Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy and the Blignaut brothers, Fouche and Bertus (DKR Hilux IMT EVO) experienced steering issues with De Villiers/Murphy (05:11:42) keeping their fourth place albeit 74 seconds further down while their team-mates dropped off the podium to sixth place (05:12:18). The young Sa’aad Variawa/Wade Harris (TGR Hilux IMT EVO) moved up one place to fifth overall (05:11:58), 16 seconds behind the multiple desert race winners, but only 20 seconds ahead of the hard-charging Blignaut brothers.

After an encounter with a kudu, a puncture cost Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dryer (Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid Evo Plus) some more valuable time with the team ending the day in seventh place (05:13:01) with their team-mates, Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen (05:21:31) moving from 11th to eighth place after a fairly trouble-free day.

Behind the Ultimate FIA T1+ teams whose vehicles are also fitted with the bigger wheels, the tight battle between the Ultimate SA T1+ frontrunners continued with the leading two teams completing the day in the overall top 10. The experienced father and son duo of Johan and Sean van Staden (Red-Lined Revo T1+) passed their team-mates, Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt to take the lead in the class (05:24:24) although only two minutes and 18 seconds separate the two teams.

Marathon race newcomers Abrie and Iaan Olivier (VAPS HCV Red-Lined Revo T1+) had an enjoyable and problem-free day and round off the class podium (05:40:39) while they filled the 13th place on the overall standings.

Also in the top 15 are two more Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid Evo Plus teams, Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson who completed the second day 11th overall and eighth in Ultimate FIA T1+ despite brake issues while the father and son combination of Michael and Luke Lawlor again gave it their all in their first marathon desert race experience to complete the second day in 15th overall and ninth in class.

Geoff Minnitt/Leander Pienaar (Hydro Power Equipment Maverick) are the leading Challenger and find themselves in 12th place overall after a rough day on churned up tracks for the smaller SXS vehicle.

This event is new to the VAPS HCV Rally-Raid Team, but it fits them to a tee and they are currently hogging the Adventurer Class podium filling the top step as well as the third place. Peet Victor/VanZyl Jonck are still leading the class and are 14th overall while Tyler Botha/Kyle Lotter are third in class and 17th overall in a similar Red-Lined VK50. They are sandwiching Nielen Marx/Rikus Hattingh (Red-Lined VK50) who are 16th overall.

Schalk Burger/Armand du Toit (King Price Xtreme Ford Ranger) are 18th overall and leading the Challenger Class with German driver, Jurgen Schröder and Rikus Fourie (WCT VW Amarok) are fighting on despite their challenges to be 19th overall.

Between those teams who could not complete the second day, are Lood du Preez/Adriaan Roets (Farmers Meat Century Racing CR6) who were second in Ultimate SA T1+, but had to call it a day due to gearbox problems while a broken CV joint stopped Hennie de Klerk/Carl Swanepoel (Treasury One Toyota Hilux) in their tracks.

For the third and final day of the GR Stella 1000 Marathon, teams will again line up at the Lion and Sable Lodge outside Stella to take on Stages Five and Six, each one consisting of 200 kilometres.

And after three days of racing and completing almost a thousand tough and challenging racing kilometres, the podium ceremonies will also take place at the lodge.

Spectators and enthusiasts can follow the race via the RallySafe App with various spectacular vantage points along the route or on Facebook: @sarallyraidchampionship; Instagram:

@sarallyraidchampionship; Tik Tok: @sarallyraid and YouTube: @SouthAfricanRallyRaidSARRC

The Toyota Gazoo Racing team of Guy Botterill and navigator Henry Köhne continued to lead the GR Stella 1000 Marathonhttps://t.co/CpmWh3L1sL#ArriveAlive #SARallying pic.twitter.com/ozjHMl0ZKk

– Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) July 26, 2026