The first African rider to ever win the World Rally Raid Championship
Hero’s Botswana rider Ross Branch, who is also a triple former South African Cross Country racing champion, wrapped up his World title with a fine third place in the Moroccan Rally this last month.
Congratulations go to Hero’s Ross Branch on becoming the first African rider to ever win the World Rally Raid Championship, on a newcomer manufacturer Hero to Rally Raid racing who have taken the world by surprise to achieve this incredible success in such brief period against all odds from leading manufacturers.
Hero’s Ross Branch commenced his 2024 World Championship campaign with a brilliant second place at the Dakar Rally in January. He repeated the feat with second in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge a month later, as he moved into the lead of a championship he would not lose, backing that up with fifth place in both Portugal in April and in Argentina in June.
This was enough to ensure that Ross needed only to finish in Morocco to take the title in the 2500 km Rallye Du Maroc, made even tougher by unseasonal rains. That was never enough to stop Ross from riding his Hero home with a fine third overall to wrap the title up with his third podium, and fifth top five finish in five 2024 starts.
Hero’s World Champion Ross Branch will now focus on Dakar 2025, where the objective simply must be to go one better on his second place this year. The World Championship also visits South Africa for the first time in 2025, when local fans will get the chance to support their Rally Raid heroes firsthand at the third round South African Safari Rally at Sun City from 18 to 21 May 2025. The new season commences at Dakar ‘25 on 3 January.
