Sarel van der Merwe, a legend in South African motor racing and rally circles, created the Spirit of Africa Trophy with a view of providing the "average" driver with an opportunity to test their off-road driving ability in a competitive environment.

In 2014 the Spirit of Africa celebrated its 10th year as the "toughest 4x4 challenge in Africa". Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is the main sponsor, providing the Amarok as the official competition vehicle. Volkswagen launched the Amarok during the 2010 Spirit of Africa Trophy, that at the time took place in the harsh setting of the Kalahari Desert pans. With temperatures exceeding 50 degrees, the Amarok fared brilliantly. The competitors were impressed, but even more importantly, so was Sarel.

Since then, the Spirit of Africa has and will continue to use the Volkswagen Amarok as its official competition vehicle and contestants can enjoy the ultimate test drive with this phenomenal vehicle.

The South African leg of the Spirit of Africa Trophy is divided into two competition rounds – the eliminations and the finals. Only the toughest, top 20 teams with the highest scores from the elimination rounds will be invited to compete in the finals, where the title and overall champion of the Spirit of Africa Trophy will be fiercely contended.

But it doesn’t end there. The Spirit of Africa Trophy has become the first and only 4x4 driving competition with international status. Starting in 2015, the top five teams from the South African Finals are invited to compete head-to-head with the top five driver/navigator teams from Australia, Botswana and Namibia. Visit the ‘International Final’ tab above for more information around this exciting latest addition to The Amarok Spirit of Africa Trophy. This really is the ultimate test drive.