Conrad shines for Zim BRILLIANT STUFF . . . Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach (right) gives a thumbs up sign in his Toyota Hilux — accompanied by his South African navigator Rob Howie — after managing to last the distance in this year’s 9 000km-long Dakar Rally which finished in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday
BRILLIANT STUFF . . . Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach (right) gives a thumbs up sign in his Toyota Hilux — accompanied by his South African navigator Rob Howie — after managing to last the distance in this year’s 9 000km-long Dakar Rally which finished in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday

BRILLIANT STUFF . . . Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach (right) gives a thumbs up sign in his Toyota Hilux — accompanied by his South African navigator Rob Howie — after managing to last the distance in this year’s 9 000km-long Dakar Rally which finished in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ACE Zimbabwean motor racing driver Conrad Rautenbach did himself and the nation proud when he finished ninth overall in the car rankings in his debut appearance in the tough two-week Dakar Rally which ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday.

Rautenbach (32), a two-time African rally champion, came out of retirement to take part in this year’s Dakar Rally accompanied by seasoned South African navigator Rob Howie, in a Toyota Hilux.

And Rautenbach surprised all and sundry by shepherding his car to a credible ninth place finish after almost two weeks competing in the toughest race on earth whose 12 stages took competitors through three South American countries — Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina — over 9 000km in tortuos conditions.

On Saturday, which was the final day of the 13-day race, Rautenbach drove brilliantly to complete the 12th and final stage in fifth place and this was good enough to land him a top-10 finish — a phenomenal achievement for the Zimbabwean who proved that he was not at this year’s Dakar Rally to make up the numbers.

And Rautenbach’s co-driver Howie could not hide his excitement after helping the Zimbabwean to last the distance in the 9 000km-long rally.

“So Dakar 2017 has come and gone. This year saw a change in format from the organisation. The roadbook was less accurate, the navigation was really tricky and with the addition of secret waypoints, it was more of a challenge.

“We weren’t allowed smart phones in the cars so I guess that explains the lack of photos and blurbs of how things were going. Conrad Rautenbach and I had a great time and are very happy with our 9th place overall. Conrad also being the first “rookie” overall. Well done Joey Evans we’ve been looking out for you . . . thanks to all of the team and it’s great to be a part of such an effort,” Howie wrote on his Facebook wall yesterday.

According to reports from Beunos Aires, Rautenbach finished this year’s Dakar Rally four hours 40 minutes and 13 seconds behind the overall winner, Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel who clocked a total of 28 hours 49 minutes and 30 seconds to land this year’s title in a Peugeot.

In fact, Peterhansel delivered back-to-back Dakar Rally victories for the French manufacturer as he saw off World Rally Championship legend and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Loeb for his 13th win in the event.

Peterhansel, nicknamed “Mr Dakar” as the rally’s most successful competitor ever, now has seven wins in the car category to his six bike triumphs.

The basis for his 13th Dakar Rally win came largely in Thursday’s Chilecito to San Juan stage, as he emerged with a lead of six minutes over Loeb after being given back time following his incident with biker Simon Marcic.

A spirited challenge from Loeb during Friday’s San Juan to Rio Cuarto run was for naught, and although the WRC legend won the final stage — his fifth of the event — it was only by 19 seconds.

It meant Peterhansel took the line with a final winning margin of 5 minutes 13 seconds over his teammate.

While Peugeot had only had Peterhansel on the podium of its four drivers in 2016, the French manufacturer locked out the top three this time, with former Dakar Rally bikes star Cyril Despres following Peterhansel and Loeb home, 33 minutes off the lead.

Spain’s Nani Roma was best of the rest for Toyota in fourth, more than an hour down on Peterhansel, while fellow Toyota driver Giniel de Villiers of South Africa pipped the leading X-Raid Mini entry of Argentina’s Orlando Terranova to fifth place.

Poland’s Kuba Przygonski (Mini), WEC Italian champion Romain Dumas (Peugeot), Rautenbach of Zimbabwe (Toyota) and Qatar’s Mohammed Abu-Issa (Mini) completed the top 10.

After losing significant time after a collision with a truck on Thursday, Mikko Hirvonen (Mini) finally finished the event in 13th, six hours down on Peterhansel.

Saturday’s 12th and final stage, which included a 64km special section in Argentina, took competitors from Rio Cuarto to the finish in Buenos Aires.

And Zimbabwean Rautenbach and his South African co-driver Howie went into this stage oozing with confidence after they had managed to finish Stage 11 on Friday eighth fastest on the 292km timed section between San Juan and Rio Cuarto, climbing into the top 10 as they finally settled for ninth position in the car rankings.

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