...while all other title battles and standings to be determined at season finale
The results of the recent VAPS HCV Vryheid 400, the fourth and penultimate round of the 2026 South African Rally-Raid Championship, saw the former multiple national Rally Driver Champion, Guy Botterill, claim his first SARR title when he earned enough points to secure the champion elect Overall Drivers’ Championship tile. Behind him, the overall standings and class championship titles will only be decided at the fifth and final event of the season, the Northam Zondereinde Bushveld 400, that is scheduled to take place on 13 and 14 November at Thabazimbi.
Botterill and navigator Henry Köhne, took their third consecutive victory this season when they won the VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 for Toyota Gazoo Racing. They scored 30 points each towards the Overall Drives’ and Navigators’ Championships respectively where Botterill’s total of 120 points places him exactly 30 points ahead of Gareth Woolridge (Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid). And with a total of 30 points available for a victory, there is an outside chance that both drivers could finish the season with the same number of points, but this situation will still put Botterill first as he has claimed more overall victories than Woolridge.
Köhne leads the Overall Navigators’ Championship, but as he only joined Botterill from the second round, his total of 105 points is only 15 points more than Woolridge’s navigator, Boyd Dreyer (90 points) which means that the pressure for both titles will be on the Botterill/Köhne duo at the final event.
In the overall standings, Woolridge (90 points) is also still within reach of third-placed Saood Variawa (TGR) who has moved up one position (77 points) while his navigator, Charan Moore, has also scored a total of 77 points to be third of the navigators where he trails Dreyer by 13 points. This situation can spark a fierce battle for the final podium positions at the last race.
In the overall standings, Giniel de Villiers (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid) missed the Vryheid event and dropped to fourth place between the drivers (57 points) while Jayden Els (Century Racing Factory Team) rounds out the top five (47 points).
Behind the five Ultimate FIA T1+ drivers in the overall top 10, is Philip Botha (Red-Lined Revo T1+) who has completed all the events in Ultimate SA T1+ and has bagged a total of 40 points. He is, however, only two points ahead of his main rival, Johan van Staden (38 points) who could not score points at the season opener. The young Sa’aad Variawa (TGR), who also missed the recent KZN event, is eighth (32 points); Danie Ludick (Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid) in ninth (30 points) followed by the German driver, Daniel Schröder (WCT VW Amarok) who moved into the top 10 (27 points) after a stellar performance at Vryheid where he finished fourth overall.
With only 13 points covering the drivers between sixth and 10th place overall, a shuffle in the current standings is highly possible and the final event will be where it will all be finalised.
Anything can still happen between the navigators in the overall standings and with the navigators swopping seats, a few interesting situations have developed. While Dreyer can still catch Köhne, he is within reach of Moore who might just be safe enough on the podium as De Villiers’ navigator, Dennis Murphy, dropped to fourth place overall (57 points) after not competing in KZN. Els’ navigator, Johann Swemmer (47 points), with Murphy and de Villiers not racing, will have to keep an eye out for Botha’s navigator, Andries Mynhardt (40 points) who is currently sixth overall although a mere two points separate him from Van Staden’s son and navigator, Sean (38 points) in seventh place.
And just six points behind Van Staden, is Wade Harris who has earned 32 points sitting next to Sa’aad Variawa for the first two events while he leads ninth-placed Denzil Williamson, who navigates for Ludick, by a slender two points. Veteran navigator, Juan Möhr earned 27 points sitting next to Schröder and rounds off the overall top 10. As with the situation between the drivers, the small margin of points that separate the navigators can result in the final standings looking somewhat different depending on the outcome of the final round of the 2026 season.
Looking at the standings in the various class championships, where competitors are rewarded with additional points for completed stages, Botterill (168 points) is not totally out of the woods in Ultimate FIA T1+ as Woolridge (138 points) is close enough to close the gap. Saood Variawa (119 points) is still on the podium with a little breathing space to De Villiers (98 points) in fourth place. Els (80 points) is fifth followed by Sa’aad in sixth place although both Sa’aad and Ludick have earned the same number of points (68). Schröder is eighth (48 points), a single point ahead of Fouche Blignaut (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid) who competed twice this season. Wors Prinsloo (Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid) rounds off the top 10 (36 points).
In the Ultimate FIA T1+ Navigators’ Championship, the battle at the front will go down to the wire as a mere three points separate Köhne (141 points) from Dreyer (138 points) in second place with Moore (119 points) somewhat further behind in third. Murphy (98 points) is fourth and Swemmer (80 points) is fifth followed by Harris and Williamson both with 65 points behind their names. André Vermeulen scored points next to Prinsloo and Lance Woolridge and is eighth (63 points) with Möhr (48 points), one point ahead of Fouché’s brother and navigator, Bertus (47 points) who rounds off the top 10.
With only five points separating the two teams at the front of Ultimate SA T1+, it is anyone’s guess who will walk away with the title. The Van Staden duo lead (146 points) followed by Botha/Mynhardt (141 points) while Jurgen Schröder/Rikus Fourie (WCT VW Amarok), missed the last event, but have earned 81 points, round off the podium although a mere two points separate them from Abrie and Iaan Olivier (VAPS HCV Rally-Raid) in fourth place. Lood du Preez/Adriaan Roets (Farmers Meat Century Racing), who won the class at the season opener, are fifth (51 points).
The Adventurer title is also still wide open. Peet Victor/VanZyl Jonck (VAPS HCV Rally-Raid) are still leading (117 points), but the 14 point-gap to second-placed Nielen Marx/Rikus Hattingh (Red-Lined VK50) is too small for comfort. Tyler Botha and Kyle Lotter (VAPS HCV Rally-Raid) are third with Botha on 48 points and Lotter on 42 due to him not being able to complete the Vryheid event as a result of illness. Tokkie Ferreira/Nardus Janse van Rensburg (Ford Ranger) are fourth (42 points) with Jan Rose/Arno Olivier (Ford Ranger) fifth (15 points).
Geoff Minnitt (Hydro Power Equipment) clinched the Challenger Driver Championship (66 points) and finished second behind Werner Mostert (MotoNetix Motorsport) in the SxS Championship while navigator Leander Pienaar won the Challenger Navigators’ Championship (42 points) and finished second behind Ian Mosters (21 points) in the SxS Class.
TGR / SVR lead the Constructors’ standings (316 points) followed by Red-Lined (150 points). NWM is in a close third place (145 points) with an eye on the second place while Century Racing is fourth (76 points) and WCT fifth (40 points).
All eyes will be on the fifth and final round of the 2026 SA Rally-Raid Championship that takes place on 13 and 14 November and the rewards will be worth battling for.