Conrad Rautenbach to compete in Dakar Rally CONRAD RAUTENBACH
CONRAD RAUTENBACH

CONRAD RAUTENBACH

CAPE TOWN. — Two-time African motor rally champion Conrad Rautenbach of Zimbabwe arrived in Brazil yesterday en route to Paraguay where he will compete in the Dakar Rally for the first time in his motor racing career.

Rautenbach (32), who won the African Rally Championship twice in 2007 and 2011 before he quit the sport to concentrate on family business, is coming out of retirement to tackle the tough 2017 Dakar Rally in which he will be one of the many rookies who will be taking part in the toughest race on earth.

Son of Zimbabwean millionaire businessman and former rally driver Billy Rautenbach, Conrad left Harare on Wednesday night via Johannesburg, South Africa, where he connected a flight to Brazil before he heads to Asuncion, Paraguay, for the start of the Rally which runs from January 2 to 14.

The Dakar Rally will start with a short stage of 454km from Asuncion to Resistencia in northern Argentina. The next day the race will continue from there into the Andes, through Bolivia to La Paz on January 8, before turning south to the finish in Buenos Aires on January 14.

Top South African rally navigator Rob Howie will be reading the notes for Zimbabwean rally ace and former South African Rally champion Rautenbach, who’ll be taking on the ultimate driving challenge for the first time in another of Glynn Hall’s SA-built Hiluxes, standing in for Howie’s usual chauffeur, multi-talented Leeroy Poulter, who’s recovering from major surgery.

“My goal is to finish my first Dakar,” Conrad said.

“I’m very fortunate to have a lot of experienced people around me, but I really need to have a clean run and gather experience. Speed won’t be the issue, I just need to get used to stages of more than 400 kilometres and maintain that pace, so the trick will be finding a good rhythm.”

With the addition of Paraguay, the Dakar Rally will visit the 29th country in its history, the fifth on the South American continent.

Then the rally will head for its longest stay so far in Bolivia and more specifically the capital city of La Paz.

Argentina, which has been a part of every edition since 2009, will be the theatre for the final battle decided in Buenos Aires.

In fact, if 2016 introduced the Who’s Who of international rally and off-road racing to the Dakar Rally (think Sébastien Loeb, Mikko Hirvonen, Xavier Pons and Martin Prokop) then 2017 is the Year of the Rookies.

Out of the 343 vehicles expected to start the 2017 Dakar Rally, a total of 82 – 51 bikers, 10 quad riders, 13 car drivers and four special service crew vehicles, making up nearly 25% of the field – will be crewed by newcomers to the rally.

While some rookies acquitted themselves admirably this year, taking top spots in the classification and winning stages (such as Kevin Benavides and Antoine Meo in the bike category, and Loeb and Hirvonen in cars).

The 2016 debutants lived up to expectations, with the overall top 10 featuring five newcomers in the bike category (Benavides, Van Beveren, Meo, Brabec and Monleon), while three greenhorns also cracked the top 10 in the car ranks (Hirvonen, Loeb and Hunt).

Although no one can predict how the rookies of 2017 will perform, several come with considerable reputations preceding them, such as the 23-year-old motorcycle rider Ivan Ramirez from Mexico and Polish enduro rider Adam Tomiczeck.

In the car category, UAE driver Khalid Al Qassimi (Peugeot DKR 2008) can spring a surprise in his maiden Dakar Rally, as well as American Bryce Menzies (Mini John Cooper Works Rally) who has extensive experience in the American Baja series. Closer to home, Zimbabwean Rautenbach, who has teamed with the experienced Howie, can be a strong contender in his first Dakar.

The double African Rally champion and winner of the 2011 South African Rally Championship has proven his speed and consistency, and as such he can play a valuable backup role for the Toyota Gazoo Hilux team.

For his first Dakar attempt Menzies will be joined by his regular co-driver, fellow American Peter Mortensen.

The third X-raid Team pairing is Saudi citizen Yazeed Al-Rajhi (#306) and his regular co-driver Timo Gottschalk from Germany. The pair finished fourth in this year’s FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. — Wheels24.

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