hours, 28 minutes and 17 seconds, taking their second outright victory of the season and sealing Variawa’ s first SA Rally-Raid Championship title.
Ferreira and Palmeiro completed an excellent weekend to finish second overall in their GR Hilux IMT EVO, just under two minutes behind the winners. Botterill and Mena trailed them by only 59 seconds to take third. Sa’ aad Variawa and Zaheer Bodhanya capped off an impressive drive in fifth place overall, marking the younger Variawa’ s strongest national performance to date.
Speaking about his championship campaign, Saood said the season had been anything but straightforward:“ The championship has been filled with ups and downs. We’ ve had a lot of good results and some not so decent ones too. We had one or two races where we had to fight back from the rear of the field, which obviously affected the championship points. But I’ m happy with the way we managed things. I stayed calm and collected, and it didn’ t bother me too much when we lost points because we knew we were faster than a lot of the field at most races— we just had to put it all together. We’ ve had so many events where we were much quicker but made mistakes, so learning to piece everything together was the biggest lesson this year. The team gave me a perfect car every time. They’ ve worked incredibly hard and
I’ m glad we could bring the championship home for them. It really lifts the morale going into Dakar. I’ m also grateful to my teammates— Guy winning stages and João winning races overseas— we have a great bond between the three of us. That’ s why I believe we will be strong for Dakar. Our testing in Namibia showed that the setup works, even in tight terrain, and this weekend we were able to maximise it. This race had plenty of ups and downs, and at one point I didn’ t think the title was possible, but I kept my head down and pushed. It’ s amazing to be the youngest ever rally-raid champion in South Africa, and to win the title in only my second full season. It took a lot from me— a lot of work, a lot of learning, absorbing everything like a sponge— but we did a good job.”
Team Principal, Shameer Variawa, praised the entire squad following the podium sweep, saying he was immensely proud of what the team had accomplished during
the season.“ For Saood to become the youngest ever South African rally-raid champion at just 20 years old is a fantastic achievement, and I am overjoyed for him and Francois. We have great drivers, a great team, and of course great sponsors behind us. Now we shift our focus fully to the upcoming Dakar Rally, and I believe we can carry this momentum forward to the world’ s greatest rally-raid race.”
The 2025 season closes with TGRSA celebrating a national champion, a commanding finalround performance, and a strong indicator of form ahead of Dakar. With the GR Hilux IMT EVO proving fast, resilient and capable across the country’ s toughest terrains, the team now transitions into Dakar-preparation mode with confidence and momentum on their side.
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2025 39 WORDS IN ACTION