The race forms round three and is a new entrant in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). The South African Safari Rally will run from May 18-24 in the North West province. As per the availed map, the race will begin and end at the Sun City Resort, less than 200km from Botswana. This is the closest the W2RC has come to the local shores but by the registration deadline on February 14, there were no locally-based riders on the entrants' list. Ross Branch will be the only local rider in the starting line-up. As per the released entrant list, Branch is among a cohort of South African bikers, who will mostly compete in the second tier category, the Rally 2. Branch will return to the South African terrain where he rose to a world-class competitor. He is currently the reigning W2RC champion but is having a tough time on the bike to reclaim the title. Branch will look to earn his first points this season at the South African Safari Rally after failing to complete the first two rounds.
He had a crash in the first round at the Dakar Rally in January and had a mechanical fault, forcing him to retire from the second round of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which ended yesterday. It has proved to be prohibitive for local riders to compete at the race with expenses exceeding P750, 000, MmegiSport has been told. On average, elite rally entry fees are $20, 000 (approximately P275, 000) whilst the rally race bikes reach P500, 000 in expenses. Speaking to MmegiSport, Kosmas Mamaloukos, said he wanted to compete in the race but the cost was too steep. He is of the view that this has kept the local riders from competing in the South African race. "I would have loved to (compete at the Safari Rally), but we are not at that stage and a lot of things are needed in such a short span. For the longest time, I have been focusing on motocross and racing different series in Europe and other countries. So the Dakar and rally races are not something in my best interest for now, mainly because the cost is too high," said Mamaloukos.
