- Vryheid 400 runs 9 and 10 October.
- Round 4 of 2026 SARRC.
- Two GR Hilux IMT EVOs entered.
- Botterill leads drivers’ standings on 90 points.
- Sa’aad Variawa sits out this round.
Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA) will try to keep its unbeaten 2026 record intact at the VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 this weekend. The race, on 9 and 10 October from the Vryheid Airfield in the Battlefields region of KwaZulu-Natal, is Round 4 and the penultimate event of the South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC). The team has won all three rounds contested so far this season.
TGRSA crews and GR Hilux entries
TGRSA will field two GR Hilux IMT EVOs, for Guy Botterill and Henry Köhne, and for Saood Variawa and Charan Moore. Both crews return from the Rally of Morocco, the fourth round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). The logistics of retrieving the cars from Morocco mean Sa’aad Variawa has no car available and will sit out this round.
Botterill and Variawa in the title fight
Botterill and Köhne arrive as the crew to beat after wins at the GR Stella 1000 Marathon in July and the Outeniqua 400 in August. Botterill tops the drivers’ standings on 90 points, 18 clear of his nearest rival, while Köhne leads the navigators’ championship on 75 points. Durban-born Botterill was heading for a podium in Vryheid last year when a rear differential failure in the closing kilometres of the rain-shortened race dropped him to seventh.
Reigning champion Saood Variawa and Moore won the season opener, the INGCO Parys 400 in June, but setbacks at Stella and Outeniqua have left them fourth in both standings on 54 points. Variawa finished second in Vryheid last year, 53 seconds behind the winners.
Team Principal Shameer Variawa said: “Championships are decided in the final rounds, and Vryheid showed us last year just how quickly things can change.” He added that the GR Hilux IMT EVO “has proven its durability and reliability all season”.
Vryheid 400 route and schedule
The route mixes forest roads, farmland tracks and mountain trails, and conditions in northern KwaZulu-Natal can change quickly. Action starts on Friday, 9 October, with a 20-kilometre Qualifying Race at 09:30, setting the order for the 70-kilometre Stage One at 13:00. Saturday begins at 08:30 with the 180-kilometre Stage Two, followed by a compulsory 30-minute service at the Designated Service Point before the third and final stage. The SARRC season then concludes at Thabazimbi in November.
Supplied by MotorPress (Karabo Sethusha, Manager: Motorsport TGR, Toyota South Africa)
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