Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa brought its 2026 National Rally Championship campaign to a close at the TRAC N4 Dullstroom National Rally, where Mark Jones and Kes Naidoo finished second in the NRC2 class. The result handed Naidoo the NRC2 co-driver championship and confirmed Jones as runner-up in the drivers' standings, behind class champion Bruce Swatton.
The Mpumalanga finale was as demanding as its reputation suggested. Johan Strauss and Caro Storm set the early pace in their Subaru Impreza, with Dawie van der Merwe and Matt Kohler giving chase. Bruce Swatton and Craig Reyneke ran third, Lynton Swatton and Tommy Coetzee fourth, and Jones and Naidoo fifth in the Toyota GR Yaris through the opening stages.
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Saturday proved decisive. Strauss was the first of the front runners to retire, Van der Merwe followed, and then Swatton rolled his car heavily two stages from the finish. He was taken to hospital as a precaution and, apart from some bruising, was reported to be fine. Those retirements lifted Lynton Swatton and Coetzee to the class win, with Jones and Naidoo coming home second.
Jones and Naidoo had their own drama along the way. A heavy landing over a triple-dip section four kilometres from the end of Friday's final stage damaged the GR Yaris's radiator, intercooler piping and exhaust. The car lost power and the crew was briefly stranded on the stage before coaxing it into life and limping to service. TGRSA's mechanics worked through the night to replace the damaged parts, and the car was back at full strength for a clean, incident-free Saturday that carried the pair to the finish.
"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," Jones said. "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 finishes the 2026 season second in the NRC2 drivers' championship on 118 points, 11 behind champion Bruce Swatton on 129 and eight clear of third-placed Lynton Swatton on 110. Naidoo's consistency through the year earned him the NRC2 co-driver title on 118 points, ahead of Tommy Coetzee on 110.
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"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."
TGRSA team manager Leeroy Poulter said the year had been a steep learning curve for the squad. "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," he said. "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 complete, the TGRSA team is already looking ahead to 2027, when the programme may expand.
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