Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA) takes three GR Hilux IMT EVOs to the Rally of Morocco this week, the fourth round of the 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). The South African team arrives unbeaten in the domestic championship. For championship leader Guy Botterill, the event also serves as preparation for the 2027 Dakar Rally.
The event runs from Monday 28 September to Saturday 3 October. It starts on the Atlantic coast at Agadir and finishes in the desert town of Zagora.
Rally of Morocco route and stages
A shakedown takes place in Agadir on the opening day. Tuesday’s Stage One then covers 268 timed kilometres to link the two host cities. After that the event runs a four-day loop out of Zagora into the Chegaga and Chebbi dune fields, with the longest timed stages reaching 384 kilometres. The five stages cover 2,524 kilometres in total, of which 1,575 kilometres are run against the clock.
TGRSA crews and SARRC form
TGRSA has won every round of the 2026 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) held so far. Saood Variawa and Charan Moore won the INGCO Parys 400 in June. Botterill and Henry Köhne then won at Stella in July and at the Outeniqua 400 in August. Botterill leads the drivers’ standings by 18 points and Köhne tops the navigators’ championship. Variawa, the reigning SARRC champion, is fourth overall after rolling out of the Outeniqua 400. Both he and Moore were unhurt.
In Morocco, Botterill and Köhne run car #216 and Variawa and Moore run car #215. Portugal’s João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro (#240) drive a third GR Hilux in TGRSA colours. Days before leaving for Morocco, Ferreira and Palmeiro claimed a fifth consecutive win at the Baja TT Sharish Gin in Reguengos, Portugal. Variawa and Moore led the Baja España Aragón earlier this month until a mechanical issue dropped them to third at the finish. “I’m quite confident with how the car has been over the last few races,” said Variawa.
Guy Botterill targets Dakar preparation
The event is the first international race for Botterill and Köhne as a crew. It is also the first time either has returned to the desert since Dakar. “Our main objective is simply to complete the full distance,” said Botterill. He tweaked his wrist in a heavy moment on Stage Two of the Outeniqua 400 and still has a niggle in his left hand, but a doctor has cleared him to race.
Next SARRC round in KwaZulu-Natal
After Morocco, TGRSA’s SARRC campaign resumes on 9 and 10 October at the VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 in KwaZulu-Natal.
Supplied by MotorPress (Riaan Esterhuysen, Senior Manager: PR & Corporate Communication, Toyota South Africa)
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