TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa (TGRSA) opened its 2026 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) campaign in the best possible fashion this weekend, with Saood Variawa and Charan Moore securing victory at the INGCO Parys 400 and the team claiming the Manufacturers’ Award, after a fiercely contested opening round near the Free State town of Parys.
The first race of the SARRC season proved to be a stern examination of crews and machinery alike, with competitors facing fast open sections, rocky tracks, mud, dust and extensive off-piste sections hidden amongst the high grasslands surrounding Parys. The result was one of the closest finishes in recent SARRC history, with only 31 seconds covering the top four crews after nearly six hours of racing.
For defending champion Saood Variawa and new co-driver Charan Moore, victory was anything but straightforward. The pair suffered from an unfavourable starting position during Friday’s action, losing time while running near the front of the field through the high grass and off-piste sections. They ended the first day of racing just three seconds adrift of the overall lead.
Saturday’s two long stages, however, provided an opportunity to fight back. Variawa and Moore immediately went on the attack, with the leading crews of Variawa, Guy Botterill and Gareth Woolridge (Ford) often separated by less than 15 seconds as they traded time throughout the opening loop.
“It was quite nice having a proper rally-raid dice with Gareth and Guy,” said Variawa afterwards. “We knew we had to push and again we put the hammer down in the second loop.”
The strategy paid off perfectly as the duo claimed victory by 29 seconds over the Ford pairing of Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer, while also taking maximum points in the Ultimate FIA T1+ category.
Teammates Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena endured a weekend of mixed fortunes. The crew produced impressive pace throughout the event and strategically backed off slightly during Friday’s second loop in an effort to secure a favourable road position for Saturday’s action.
Unfortunately, that plan was undone by the presence of several closed farm gates during Saturday’s stages. Having caught the cars ahead while they were opening gates, Botterill soon found himself effectively opening the road despite sacrificing time the previous day to avoid exactly that situation. The leading crews were compensated for the time lost while dealing with the gates, but for Botterill/Mena, there was no such relief.
Even so, the crew remained firmly in contention for victory until two navigational errors late in the event cost them around 45 seconds.
“We had a good weekend really,” explained Botterill. “The first loop went really well and then we backed off a little bit to try and get a good road position for day two because that was the main part of the race. Unfortunately there were five closed gates and I ended up opening the road anyway. Then in the second loop we went down the wrong side of the fence twice and lost 45 seconds. We finished fourth by one second, so it’s one of those could’ve, would’ve, should’ve situations, but all in all I’m happy.”
Botterill and Mena eventually finished fourth overall, just one second shy of the final podium position and only 31 seconds behind the winners.
The third TGRSA entry, crewed by Sa’aad Variawa and Wade Harris, showed encouraging pace throughout the weekend, despite a series of setbacks. The pair ran competitively during Friday’s stages and were matching the pace of the leading crews before visibility issues caused by mud on the windscreen hampered their progress.
Saturday brought further frustration in the form of an early puncture, navigational delays and eventually becoming stuck in mud during the second loop. Despite the setbacks, the crew persevered to finish 11th overall.
“It wasn’t our weekend,” admitted Sa’aad Variawa. “We had the pace to run with the top guys, but things just didn’t go our way. We had a puncture, got stuck in the mud and struggled to get into a rhythm. But I’m definitely enjoying it a lot and we learned a huge amount this weekend.”
The strong performances from all three crews, coupled with the victory for Saood Variawa and Charan Moore, ensured that TGRSA also claimed the Manufacturers’ Award at the opening round of the season.
The result sees Variawa and Moore leave Parys at the top of the championship standings as the South African Rally-Raid Championship now turns its attention to the second round of the season, the TGRSA-sponsored Marathon event in Stella from 24 to 26 July.
After opening the season with victory and maximum points, TGRSA will head to its home event carrying plenty of momentum and confidence as the fight for the 2026 championship gathers pace.
