TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa (TGRSA) closed out its 2026 National Rally Championship (NRC) campaign at the TRAC N4 Dullstroom National Rally with Mark Jones and Kes Naidoo second in the NRC2 class, a result that secures Naidoo the NRC2 co-driver championship and confirms Jones as runner-up in the drivers’ standings behind class champion Bruce Swatton.

The Mpumalanga finale lived up to its tough reputation. Johan Strauss and Caro Storm set the early pace in their Subaru Impreza, chased hard by Dawie van der Merwe and Matt Kohler, with Bruce Swatton and Craig Reyneke third, Lynton Swatton and Tommy Coetzee fourth, and Jones and Naidoo in their Toyota GR Yaris fifth through the opening stages. Saturday’s running proved decisive: Strauss was the first of the leading group to retire, followed by van der Merwe, before Swatton rolled his car heavily two stages from the finish. He was taken to hospital as a precaution and, aside from some bruising, was reported to be fine. The retirements promoted Lynton Swatton and Coetzee to the class win, with Jones and Naidoo coming home second.

Jones and Naidoo’s own weekend was not without incident. A hard landing over a triple-dip combination four kilometres from the end of Friday’s final stage damaged the GR Yaris’s radiator, intercooler piping and exhaust, leaving the car without power and the crew briefly stranded on the stage before they coaxed it clear and limped to service. TGRSA’s mechanics worked through the night to replace the damaged components, and the car was back to full strength for a clean, incident-free Saturday that brought the result home.

“We came down hard on the nose of the car and did a fair bit of damage – the bottom of the radiator, the intercooler, the pipework, and we’d crimped the exhaust closed, so we had no power,” said Jones. “We genuinely thought we were out of the rally, stuck on the stage. Eventually, with a bit of clutch work, we got it moving again and limped home. The TGRSA mechanics did an amazing job overnight to get the car ready for Saturday, and from there we just brought it home – which was the goal.”

Jones ends the 2026 season second in the NRC2 drivers’ championship on 118 points, 11 points behind champion Bruce Swatton on 129, and eight points clear of third-placed Lynton Swatton on 110. Naidoo’s consistency through the year was rewarded with the NRC2 co-driver title, finishing on 118 points ahead of Tommy Coetzee on 110.

“It’s been a brilliant season,” said Jones. “We were never under pressure to score points or chase podiums – it was always about development, about doing the mileage and bringing the GR Yaris home. If you look at where this car started, almost a road car with a roll cage, to where it is now, it’s a proper rally car. Mission accomplished.”

“This year has really been a learning curve for us,” said TGRSA Team Manager Leeroy Poulter. “We started the season with a manual gearbox and standard suspension, and the car has turned into something that can genuinely fight for the NRC2 championship. In the car, Mark and Kes had their moments early on, but that relationship got a lot better as the season went on, and they’re reading the notes together really well now.”

With the 2026 season now complete, the entire TGRSA team is looking forward to the 2027 campaign, which may see the programme expand.

ENDS