Ross Branch

Dakar Disaster for SA Riders… Branch, Cox out. Aaron Mare steps up to the plate

Saturday’s stage six opened week 2 at Dakar in disastrous form for the leading Southern African bikers when both Ross Branch and Bradley Cox crashed out within the first 100 kilometres of the brutal 604 km special. 

Mostly by: Motorsport Media

Aaron Mare
Aaron Mare

Another South African, Aaron Mare however stepped up to the plate to lead the way early on, before racing home eleventh on a day where Honda riders Ricky Brabec and Adrien van Beveren took the day from Branch’s Hero Moto teammate José Ignacio Cornejo.

The day started on the wrong foot for two South African champions. 2024 World Rally 2 Champion, Bradley Cox took a tumble on his BAS World KTM. He remounted but soon stopped with neck pains to be airlifted out of the race. Almost concurrently Botswana’s 2024 World Rally Raid Moto Champion Ross Branch crashed his Hero Moto. Ross was able to walk to the casevac helicopter, but he too, is out of Dakar 2025.

You can view Brads spectacular crash here.

Bradley Cox
Two world champs knocked out of Dakar 2025.

Meanwhile after stage 7 yesterday, KTM’s Daniel Sanders, picked up his fifth stage win in part thanks to his flair and in part thanks to beginning the special in ninth place. 

Daniel Sanders
KTM's Daniel Sanders was still in the lead as of this morning.

Tosha Schareina, third in the stage and second overall, also benefited from the compact race situation near the end of the special.

Tosha Schareina
Tosha Schareina

Unfazed by the challenge of starting in second place, Hondas Adrien Van Beveren skilfully defended his podium spot with the help of a big haul of bonuses for opening the road. As things stand, the Frenchman is now 26′07″ behind Sanders in the ranking, with Brabec in fourth place at 33′19″.

South African Aaron Mare enjoyed another solid day in 13th while amateur rookie compatriots Dwain Barnard rode 51st and Willem Avenant 95th.

There’s still a way to go…

Adrien van Beveren
Adrien van Beveren

More SA Car Pain, But Lategan still leads.

Dakar legend Giniel de Villiers was forced to withdraw his Gazoo Hilux after navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz suffered neck pain. The SA-built WCT Amarok crewed by Daniel Schröder and Henry Köhne, and Zimbabwean William Battershill and his SA navigator Stuart Gregory’s Century CR6 also failed to start the day. French legend crew Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq’s Mini also rolled out on Saturday…

South African overall leaders Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Gazoo Hilux lost time in the final sector to see Saudi home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk’s Hilux close to within 21 seconds, with Ekstrom ten minutes adrift in third. 

lategan
TGR’S LATEGAN/CUMMINGS STILL ON TOP
Yesterday started reasonably enough despite slight changes to the route to account for the wet weather and deployment of safety helicopters. Third overall, Swedes Ekstrom and Bergkvist led race leaders Lategan and Cummings, and their teammate Moraes at the first waypoint. Moraes was ahead of French duo, Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier Century CR7 and US Ford Raptor pair Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch and Ekstrom, with Lategan eighth from fourth overall Al Attiyah and Boulanger’s Dacia and second men Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk’s Hilux at 138 km.
 
The top four overall and several others in the bunch opening the road then appeared to plummet down the order by the next 183 km waypoint.  Lategan sat 26th, Ekstrom 34th, Al Rajhi 37th and Al Attiyah, who had also stopped in that section, 42nd.. Moraes still led from Brazilian Gastaldi and Metge in their Century, Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno’s Dacia and Serradori. 
 
Not much changed through the next few waypoints, when race organisers announced that an incorrect road note at 158 km had caused several cars to lose their bearings. A 20 km segment around that point would be delimited at the finish to erase any gains or losses made there. All well and good, but that plunged the real situation into mystery and immediately drew complaints about cars that would gain an unfair advantage if they had other trouble in that segment.
 
On to the finish, Moraes duly powered out of the stage to win without any correction. Ekstrom, Guthrie, Al Attiyah, Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz’s Gazoo Hilux, Gutierrez and Al Rajhi however all shot up the order. But what of leader Lategan? He duly arrived in fifteenth after losing some ten minutes in the final section as he ended up opening the road. Expect the results to change again as they certainly all remained provisional at the time of writing. 
 
Of other South African interest, Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet’s Gazoo Hilux ended seventh; Gastaldi, Serradori and SA duo Baragwanath and Cremer’s Centurys were provisionally 11th, 13th and 18th and Toyota water carriers Botterill and Cremer 25th ahead of the best of the Red-Lined crews, lady racer Aliyyah Koloc and Sebastien Delaunay’s REVO+.  All of which has served to tighten up the top four overall for now, with Lategan, Al Rajhi, Ekstrom and Al Attiyah covered by all of 21 minutes with five days of racing still to come. Serradori sits sixth, Baragwanath tenth, Variawa 21st, Koloc 23rd and Botterill provisionally 25th overall. 

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