Sponsored by Salomon, the eighth task was a muscle-burner of note that played out under a scorching midday sun. Challengers were required to sprint back and forth on a gnarly obstacle course — navigating balance planks and launching over arches — to retrieve 10 tennis balls, one at a time. Once collected, the balls were handed to their heroes, who had to roll each one down a narrow, pivoting plank into a collection chute. The first team to retrieve all their balls and land three consecutive shots were declared the winners.
Next in line was the grand finale sponsored by Garmin: a physical battle royal that merged some of the toughest tasks from past Fortuner Challenge events into one nail-biter of a final showdown. A further test of endurance, problem-solving and teamwork, it included a rope maze handicap, thread the needle and, most notably, a raft building competition where challengers and heroes had to construct a seaworthy craft out of wood, rope and tyre tubes. They then had to row their creation out onto the Botrivier Lagoon, around a jetty and back to shore without capsizing.
Back on land, the teams had to complete one last trying test, which involved a final burst of physical and mental effort: a collection of old tyres had been stacked in a specific sequence on one pole and needed to be carefully restacked in the same order on another pole, requiring careful thought and analysis.
IN PICS | Toyota Fortuner Challenge a gruelling display of greatness and grit
Toyota South Africa Motors hosted the eighth edition of its popular Fortuner Challenge on Monday and Tuesday.
Powered by Quartz Engine Oil, this multisport competition combines four members of the public, who enter the contest via a number of media houses, with four local sporting heroes.
After two days of tough physical and mental challenges, the winning member of the public is rewarded with a brand new Toyota Fortuner GR-Sport 2.8 GD-6 AT complete with Thule accessories. Added to this is an array of other high-end goodies from event sponsors Specialized, Garmin and Salomon.
This year’s event played out at the Botrivier Lagoon, situated halfway between Kleinmond and Hermanus, with the luxurious Arabella Hotel, Golf and Spa serving as a base camp.
Image: Supplied
Competitors for the 2025 edition of the Fortuner Challenge entered through either SuperSport, Media24, Arena Holdings or Independent Media and were then paired at random with one of four sports heroes. This year saw:
The event featured a total of 10 gruelling challenges, encompassing physical and mental tests, which stretched competitors and heroes to breaking point.
Sponsored by Quartz Engine Oil, the four opening tasks took the form of a lifeguard bootcamp that unfolded on Kleinmond Beach. The first was a timed sprint where challengers and heroes had to sprint— from a lying down position and facing the opposite direction — to flags buried in the sand at varying distances behind them.
This was succeeded by a flag hunt where heroes had to shout over each other to direct their blindfolded challengers.
Next, the challengers each had to dig up 10 colour-coded tennis balls before joining their heroes to build a sand castle to a predetermined height. To achieve this, one team member had to haul wet sand and/or water from the shoreline to help create a sturdy foundation, adding an extra layer of strategy and physical effort to the task at hand.
The final, lifeguard-themed challenge was a simulated search and rescue mission. Under the guidance of NSRI lifeguards, each challenger ventured into the ocean on a JetRib craft to retrieve a swimmer caught in a riptide. After successfully hauling the swimmer aboard, they raced back to shore, where their hero was waiting. Together they carried the distressed patient to a medical area further up the beach, completing the operation.
After breaking for dinner the action then moved back to the Arabella Hotel, Golf and Spa. Sponsored by Thule, the fifth task took the form of an orienteering competition comparable to a large-scale escape room. Engineered to test problem-solving abilities, teamwork and navigational skills, it saw the heroes, with their hands bound together, attached to a Fortuner GR-Sport parked on the tee box. Scattered around the golf course, the challengers had to navigate through the night to free their heroes whilst solving clues presented as GPS coordinates, morse code flashes and cryptic messages written in UV ink on the Fortuner's body. These were relayed to the challengers via two-way radios.
Day 2 of the challenge kicked off with a dramatic rally raid event held on a sand dune. Each armed with a Toyota Fortuner GR-Sport, the four teams’ driving skills were put to the test with a classic knockout style drag race challenge followed by a head to head gymkhana shoot-out.
Up next was a fast-paced, two-wheeled adventure sponsored by Specialized. After receiving a string of GPS co-ordinates, challengers needed to bicycle to various points on the Kleinmond Mountain Bike trail, where they would find a collection of magnetic jigsaw puzzle pieces. These needed to be returned to their heroes who were each tasked with assembling the complete puzzle on the bonnet of a Fortuner.
Sponsored by Salomon, the eighth task was a muscle-burner of note that played out under a scorching midday sun. Challengers were required to sprint back and forth on a gnarly obstacle course — navigating balance planks and launching over arches — to retrieve 10 tennis balls, one at a time. Once collected, the balls were handed to their heroes, who had to roll each one down a narrow, pivoting plank into a collection chute. The first team to retrieve all their balls and land three consecutive shots were declared the winners.
Next in line was the grand finale sponsored by Garmin: a physical battle royal that merged some of the toughest tasks from past Fortuner Challenge events into one nail-biter of a final showdown. A further test of endurance, problem-solving and teamwork, it included a rope maze handicap, thread the needle and, most notably, a raft building competition where challengers and heroes had to construct a seaworthy craft out of wood, rope and tyre tubes. They then had to row their creation out onto the Botrivier Lagoon, around a jetty and back to shore without capsizing.
Back on land, the teams had to complete one last trying test, which involved a final burst of physical and mental effort: a collection of old tyres had been stacked in a specific sequence on one pole and needed to be carefully restacked in the same order on another pole, requiring careful thought and analysis.
In the end, after much sweat had been spilled, it was Independent Media’s Hennie Terreblanche and his hero, Saood Variawa, who emerged as the victors of the 2025 Toyota Fortuner Challenge. While each of the challengers was rewarded with a Specialized mountain bike, Salomon gear and a Garmin Fenix watch, only Terreblanche drove away in a brand new Toyota Fortuner GR-Sport 2.8 GD-6 AT complete with Thule accessories.
A 27-year-old software engineer, Terreblanche is a dedicated fitness enthusiast and accomplished CrossFit athlete, having ranked 26th fittest in Africa. With a passion for adventure and the great outdoors, he also serves as a CrossFit coach in his free time.
"Winning this magnificent Fortuner GR-Sport means so much," said Terreblanche.
"My wife and I are about to start a family, so it's the perfect vehicle for this new chapter of our lives. But first we are planning to take a road trip to visit friends in KwaZulu-Natal. It's going to be a 1,600km roundtrip — a fine way to celebrate the spoils of this epic event.”
• This article was sponsored by Toyota.
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