Hennie Terreblanche with his hero teammate and racing driver for the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa motorsports team, Saood Variawa, celebrate winning the 2025 Fortuner Challenge.
Image: Supplied
Independent Media is the winner of the Fortuner Challenge 2025, powered by Quartz Engine Oil.
It’s the second year in succession that the group has taken the honours, edging out Arena Holdings, Media 24 and Supersport.
After eight gruelling tasks over two days in the Overberg, Western Cape, Hennie Terreblanche with his hero teammate and racing driver for the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa motorsports team, Saood Variawa, received the keys to a new Toyota Fortuner GR-Sport to take home.
“I can’t believe it,” said Terreblanche, when the window showed his name after a few anxious moments.
“It’s difficult to describe what I feel right now but all the blood, sweat and tears have been worth it. It’s absolutely unreal.
“When I had an interview with Independent before the event, I said I would have liked to have Saood as a partner. We worked so well together and I can’t believe what a mature and strategic thinker he is at only 18-years old.”
From the time that the heroes dismounted from the NSRI boat on the beach and Variawa selected the yellow smoke flare that teamed him up with Terreblanche, the pair consistently appeared to be in control
The 27-year old software engineer and part-time crossfit coach was selected from a host of hopeful contestants and clearly he was the right choice.
This year’s challenge was slightly different from previous years but no less physically or mentally demanding in stifling Western Cape heat.
Ultimate prize
They had to do life-saver type runs on the beach, find stakes guided while blindfolded, dig for balls in the sand, build sand castles to a predetermined height and “rescue” someone at sea and run with a stretcher.
It even included using their Garmin watches at night with a number of coordinates and flashing Morse-code messages to find and “release” their hero.
For most just the thought of it would be too much but Terreblanche and Variawa joined forces in a determined duo to win the ultimate prize.
Driving in the dunes with various challenges in the Toyota Fortuner GR-Sport was of course right up Variawa’s alley as the youngest driver to win a stage of the Dakar Rally.
When contestants and heroes had to build puzzles by finding pieces of it at coordinates on their specialised bikes and the pair won it, it looked like they may have moved slightly ahead.
A tough physical challenge involving an obstacle course, and rolling tennis balls down a plank and into a tube, saw Terreblanche running the course 22 times before the final ball rolled in to seal victory.
Hennie Terreblanche is congratulated by his wife Kalinka after winning the Toyota Fortuner GR-Sport in the 2025 Fortuner Challenge.
Image: Willem van de Putte
Final challenge
The final challenge was another combination of physical and mental mettle that involved 20 metres of rope they had to tie into a knot while also being tied to each other.
Thereafter, a raft from planks, rope and tyre tubes had to be built before paddling around a jetty, being tied to each other and then having to untie the complicated knot again.
A large cross-type pole then had to be weaved and maneuvered through a tight course before one of the toughest challenges of the two days.
Meanwhile, tyres were stacked in sequence over a pole and had to be repacked in the same sequence over another pole which required some serious thinking and analysing.
Relief
When the final competitor had completed their task, the relief on the faces of heroes and competitors alike was palpable.
The two tough days were over and a new R999 000 Fortuner GR-Sport had found a home.
Apart from the Fortuner GR-Sport, Terreblanche also gets to take home a host of other prizes.
Attached to the Fortuner are Black Thule Evo racks and a Thule Force XT Roof Box. There’s also luggage including a Thule Chasm set, 26 litre backpack, 40 litre duffel and a 110 litre Roller to the value of R47 195.
He also gets to keep the specialised mountain bike worth R39 000, a R10 000 Total Energies fuel card, a Garmin watch worth R24 999 and R9 650 worth of Salomon Clothing.