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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When one door closes, another one opens. In the case of South Africa’s (SA’s) Dakar Rally history, one of the legends of the gruelling off-road endurance race — Giniel de Villiers — has called time on his Dakar career, which spanned just more than two decades.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I grew up on a farm and raced everything I could find. It all started when I was four, with a pedal go-kart. My father loved motor racing and passed the virus on to me. Then I started on the track, especially in touring cars, before going off-road,” De Villiers recalls. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Known for his incredible consistency, De Villiers managed 20 top 10 finishes, including eight podiums. However, he could not add to this tally in 2025 after being forced to abandon the race due to co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz suffering an injury after the halfway mark of the 12-stage event. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">De Villiers was forced to press the brakes on an incredible rally career, which included him becoming the first and only South African to secure an overall win in the Dakar back in 2009. But now new talent has shown a readiness to fill his massive shoes. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the course of the 2025 Dakar in Saudi Arabia, two South African drivers in particular reached out to grab the baton that De Villiers ran with for years. One being Henk Lategan, the other teenager Saood Variawa — both representing Toyota Gazoo Racing.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2551445 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2192591823.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1780\" height=\"1130\" /> <em>Saood Variawa of South Africa's Toyota Gazoo during rest day, during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 10 January 2025 in Hail, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Who the Henk is Lategan?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lategan led the car standings for much of this edition of the rally, alongside navigator and compatriot Brett Cummings. The Toyota Gazoo pair only relinquished the lead after a disappointing stage nine display, in which a navigational error and a puncture cost them valuable minutes. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home favourite Yazeed Al-Rajhi, alongside his co-driver Timo Gottschalk, raced to the summit of the standings as a result. However, Lategan and Cummings reclaimed the lead in the very next stage, but the Overdrive pair of Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk leapfrogged them again in the penultimate stage. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lategan and Cummings crossed the finish line in third in the 12th and final stage of the almost 8,000km enduro race, but it was not enough to take the lead again as they finished second. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite not emerging victorious in the overall event, Lategan demonstrated that he is ready to be SA’s next big rally star for the immediate future. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2551443 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2192439791.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1780\" height=\"1126\" /> <em>Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and Dirk von Zitzewitz of Germany represent Toyota Gazoo compete during the prologue during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 3 January 2025 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lategan has always had an interest in cars, but as a youngster his interest was more in track racing. This interest in motorsport was nourished by his father Hein Lategan, who was a race car driver himself. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My dad was never a slouch behind the wheel,” Lategan said. “As a kid, I used to watch him race Formula Fords, Touring Cars and later he competed as one of the top privateers in the South African National Rally Championship (NRC).” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Track racing was what I thought I wanted to do. But then my dad pitched up with a rally car on a trailer for my 15th birthday, and the rest is history,” said Lategan.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, since that auspicious day, he has climbed up the ranks of South African rally racing. The 30-year-old is currently reigning champion in the SA Rally-Raid Championship, having won the event a total of four times in his career. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Dakar, Lategan’s road has not been as smooth. He could not participate in the 2024 instalment due to a shoulder injury that kept him away from the steering wheel for six months. When he recovered, he and Cummings conquered SA. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They transferred this momentum into the 2025 Dakar, as shown by their displays in most of the race. Unfortunately for the pair, it was not to be as Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk held their nerve to take the overall win.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year’s showing by Lategan will be bittersweet, but it will be a major improvement from his previous best — which came in 2023 when he placed fifth overall. Despite the disappointment of missing out, he will be buoyed for the 2026 showpiece. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2551446 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2192172051-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1128\" /> <em>Saood Variawa of South Africa and Francois Cazalet of France represent Toyota Gazoo during stage 2 during the Dakar rally 2025 on 6 January 2025 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Young prospect</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another South African ready to push to even greater heights than De Villiers after making his Dakar debut in 2003, is prodigy Saood Variawa. The 19-year-old was born two years after De Villiers’s first Dakar appearance. He was just four years old when the veteran claimed a historic overall Dakar victory in 2009. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Variawa made his Dakar debut in 2024, finishing in 17th spot. This year he was aiming higher, saying ahead of the race: “We’re going to push. I want to aim for at least a top 10 finish and feature in the top 3 of some of the stages if possible. I know we have the pace now. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Racing locally, we are up there with the big guys. We want to gain more experience and continue pushing towards finishing as well, and get another finish under my belt.”</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2551444 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2192591348.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1750\" height=\"1167\" /> <em>Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and Toyota Gazoo during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 10 January 2025 in Hail, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though he did not achieve his top 10 dream this time, Variawa’s future looks bright. He finished in the top 30 in 2025. Nevertheless, he and co-driver François Cazalet still recorded some major milestones which will help the teenager in future Dakars. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Variawa became the youngest ever stage winner in the Dakar when he claimed first place during stage three. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brian Baragwanath is a South African who did finish in the top 10 of the car classification, behind Lategan. A veteran of six previous Dakars (including two on the quad bike), Baragwanath managed his best finish yet at the event, as he rounded off the top 10.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the motorbikes segment Michael Docherty flew SA’s flag high with two stage wins, results which earned the 30-year-old 14th place overall.</span><b> DM</b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When one door closes, another one opens. In the case of South Africa’s (SA’s) Dakar Rally history, one of the legends of the gruelling off-road endurance race — Giniel de Villiers — has called time on his Dakar career, which spanned just more than two decades.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I grew up on a farm and raced everything I could find. It all started when I was four, with a pedal go-kart. My father loved motor racing and passed the virus on to me. Then I started on the track, especially in touring cars, before going off-road,” De Villiers recalls. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Known for his incredible consistency, De Villiers managed 20 top 10 finishes, including eight podiums. However, he could not add to this tally in 2025 after being forced to abandon the race due to co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz suffering an injury after the halfway mark of the 12-stage event. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">De Villiers was forced to press the brakes on an incredible rally career, which included him becoming the first and only South African to secure an overall win in the Dakar back in 2009. But now new talent has shown a readiness to fill his massive shoes. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the course of the 2025 Dakar in Saudi Arabia, two South African drivers in particular reached out to grab the baton that De Villiers ran with for years. One being Henk Lategan, the other teenager Saood Variawa — both representing Toyota Gazoo Racing.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2551445\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1780\"]<img class=\"wp-image-2551445 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2192591823.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1780\" height=\"1130\" /> <em>Saood Variawa of South Africa's Toyota Gazoo during rest day, during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 10 January 2025 in Hail, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>Who the Henk is Lategan?</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lategan led the car standings for much of this edition of the rally, alongside navigator and compatriot Brett Cummings. The Toyota Gazoo pair only relinquished the lead after a disappointing stage nine display, in which a navigational error and a puncture cost them valuable minutes. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Home favourite Yazeed Al-Rajhi, alongside his co-driver Timo Gottschalk, raced to the summit of the standings as a result. However, Lategan and Cummings reclaimed the lead in the very next stage, but the Overdrive pair of Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk leapfrogged them again in the penultimate stage. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lategan and Cummings crossed the finish line in third in the 12th and final stage of the almost 8,000km enduro race, but it was not enough to take the lead again as they finished second. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite not emerging victorious in the overall event, Lategan demonstrated that he is ready to be SA’s next big rally star for the immediate future. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2551443\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1780\"]<img class=\"wp-image-2551443 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2192439791.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1780\" height=\"1126\" /> <em>Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and Dirk von Zitzewitz of Germany represent Toyota Gazoo compete during the prologue during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 3 January 2025 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lategan has always had an interest in cars, but as a youngster his interest was more in track racing. This interest in motorsport was nourished by his father Hein Lategan, who was a race car driver himself. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“My dad was never a slouch behind the wheel,” Lategan said. “As a kid, I used to watch him race Formula Fords, Touring Cars and later he competed as one of the top privateers in the South African National Rally Championship (NRC).” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Track racing was what I thought I wanted to do. But then my dad pitched up with a rally car on a trailer for my 15th birthday, and the rest is history,” said Lategan.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, since that auspicious day, he has climbed up the ranks of South African rally racing. The 30-year-old is currently reigning champion in the SA Rally-Raid Championship, having won the event a total of four times in his career. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Dakar, Lategan’s road has not been as smooth. He could not participate in the 2024 instalment due to a shoulder injury that kept him away from the steering wheel for six months. When he recovered, he and Cummings conquered SA. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They transferred this momentum into the 2025 Dakar, as shown by their displays in most of the race. Unfortunately for the pair, it was not to be as Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk held their nerve to take the overall win.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year’s showing by Lategan will be bittersweet, but it will be a major improvement from his previous best — which came in 2023 when he placed fifth overall. 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He was just four years old when the veteran claimed a historic overall Dakar victory in 2009. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Variawa made his Dakar debut in 2024, finishing in 17th spot. This year he was aiming higher, saying ahead of the race: “We’re going to push. I want to aim for at least a top 10 finish and feature in the top 3 of some of the stages if possible. I know we have the pace now. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Racing locally, we are up there with the big guys. 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Saood Variawa of South Africa's Toyota Gazoo during rest day, during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 10 January 2025 in Hail, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and Dirk von Zitzewitz of Germany represent Toyota Gazoo compete during the prologue during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 3 January 2025 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
Saood Variawa of South Africa and Francois Cazalet of France represent Toyota Gazoo during stage 2 during the Dakar rally 2025 on 6 January 2025 in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and Toyota Gazoo during the Dakar Rally 2025 on 10 January 2025 in Hail, Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)