Summarize

Look at the finishing order of Tuesday’s opening day of the W2RC South African Safari Rally and it’s pretty much the who’s-who of the World Rally-Raid Championship. 

Multiple South African Champion Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings won the day for Toyota from Jayden Els and Johann Swemmer in a Red-Lined REVO GT-R with Dakar and World Rally legend Carlos Sainz's Raptor third from Dacia Sandrider duo, world champion and five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al Attiyah, and nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb.

But who on earth is Jayden Els and Johann Swemmer, and what is a Red-Lined REVO GTR? Els and Swemmer received a late navigational penalty to drop to fourth for the day, but that does not take away from an incredible performance by a young crew on their international Rally Raid debut aboard the proudly South African Red-Lined REVO. 

South Africa’s youngest ever motorsport world champion, Jayden Els shot to prominence by winning the 2016 Rotax Mini Max karting grand Finals at just 12 years old. Jayden continued in karting before stepping up to a competitive dual campaign of South African Polo Cup circuit and Rally Championship at just 15 years of age, when his navigator had to drive between rally stages.

Jayden then stepped across to rally-raid where he cut his teeth in a series of older cars but was always blindingly fast. Fast enough to be noticed by Red-Lined Motorsport and signed for a development program at the end of 2024. Paired with young navigating talent Johann Swemmer, the duo impressed in their Red-Lined debut in the South African finale before entering their first international race at this week’s W2RC Safari Rally.

The Red-Lined REVO GT-R T1+ is a South African designed, developed and manufactured Ultimate class rally-raid racing car powered by a Nissan GT-R turbo V6 engine and running to full top-class FIA T1+ specification. The latest weapon in a Red-Lined armoury famous for their strength and reliability, the REVO is the Kyalami manufacturer’s first full attempt at a top class Ultimate racer.

After qualifying in the top ten on Monday, Els and Swemmer were immediately on the pace during the stage before finishing second for the day behind Lategan and Cummings. A two minute penalty later dropped them behind Attiyah and Loeb. “We are absolutely blown away by the performance of our young crew today,” Red-Lined team principal Terence Marsh concludes.

“We signed Jayden and Johan as a development project in our Red-Lined REVO GT-R with an eye on Dakar participation in a year or two and took a chance to enter them in their first international race in the Safari Rally this week. One day later, here we are, mixing it with the best in the world! This is a hugely exciting moment for us as a team. Now to plan the week ahead and hopefully build on this platform!”