South Africa hosting major international race for the first time in 2025

The World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) is coming to South Africa for the very first time in May 2025.

In fact, it will be the first time in the history of the race that Africa sets the scene for two championship rounds, with Morocco to host the highly anticipated finale in October.

“The W2RC serves up a fresh challenge every season, and 2025 is no exception. A brand-new race is set to make its debut in the cradle of rally raids,” said the event organisers.

“The South African Safari Rally, the latest addition to the calendar, will take up the third slot of the series in late May.”

It is the first time the country will see such an international event taking place on local soil since the Paris–Cape Town rally staged all the way back in 1992.

The 2025 W2RC calendar can be viewed below:

An action-packed season

Away from the African continent, the W2RC will once again get the show on the road in Saudi Arabia in January.

Next up will be the dunes of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which will bring down the curtain on the Middle Eastern act in late February.

Following the local third round, the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal will make its return after its inaugural edition last year, but it will now come at the tail end of the season, moving from April to late September to set up a Portugal-Morocco one-two combo.

The coming year will be one of the W2RC’s most eco-friendly calendars to date, too, the organisers said.

They have designed a balanced and diversified calendar that slashes costs, as the times and locations of the 2025 rallies will make it possible to dispatch the vehicles by ship from one round to the next.

W2RC also pointed out that Argentina has been removed from the roster for 2025, but that doesn’t mean it will be dropped as a host nation for the W2RC.

“The absence of Argentina from the 2025 calendar doesn’t mean this race no longer has a place in the W2RC,” said David Castera, Motor Sports Director at Amaury Sport Organisation.

“In fact, what we want is to rotate these events. That’s what we’ll start doing next season.”

Should the South African leg of the series be a success, we can potentially look forward to also becoming a regular feature in the revolving W2RC calendar.

“The FIA World Rally-Raid Championship continues to set the benchmark for cross-country rallying, and we are delighted to witness its growing success, both in terms of competition and global presence,” said FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

“It is pleasing to see the inclusion of South Africa in the calendar, and I look forward to following the action amidst the untamed landscapes Africa has to offer.”