African-built rally-raid vehicles. It ' s a testament to the technical excellence of the local rally-raid industry.
The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Hilux programme, one of the most successful projects in modern rally raid, continues to be designed, developed and built in South Africa. It has also proved the commercialisation value of rally-raid racing.
Toyota ' s Hilux is the best-selling vehicle in South Africa, and the Japanese company ' s local marketing team has leveraged the GAZOO Racing success to great success, including the establishment of ' Dakar-edition ' Hilux derivatives for the Southern African market. Proving how rally-raid racing has true marketing value for car companies and their commercial needs.
Century Racing has established itself among the world ' s leading manufacturers of rally raid prototypes, while Red-Lined Motorsport has become an increasingly prominent force on the international stage. The local Ford-backed rally raid programme also builds competition vehicles in South Africa for export to championships around the world, further underlining the country ' s engineering capability and international influence.
Resilient and ready
The South African off-road racing championship has suffered one of its most disrupted seasons in memory. And it ' s all been due to factors beyond the control of race organisers or competitors.
Traditionally, the Highveld ' s cattleranching areas have been where most off-road racing events in South Africa are held. With uncontained foot-andmouth disease rife across most of those Highveld farming zones, calendar disruption was unavoidable at the beginning of the season.
Despite these challenges, the off-road racing fraternity and organisers have proved themselves amazingly adaptable. And it ' s exactly that kind of adaptability that gives racers, fans, and sponsors confidence for the 2027 South African Safari Rally.
Archie Rutherford, CEO of the South African Safari Rally, welcomed the announcement. " South Africa has always played an important role in international rally raid, not only through the achievements of our competitors, but also through the engineering expertise and competition vehicles that are developed and exported from this country. Hosting the World Rally-Raid Championship allows us to celebrate that legacy on home soil, and we are incredibly proud that the championship will return in 2027."
SEPTEMBER 2026 27 WORDS IN ACTION