admincontinental events in Uganda and South Africa at the weekend.
Whyte was away in Uganda competing in the KCB Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally while Rautenbach was representing the country in the Volkswagen Rally in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally was the fifth round of the 2011 FIA African Rally Championship while the Volkswagen Rally was also round five of this year’s South African Rally Championship series.
And the gods of African motor rally did not smile on the two Zimbabwean drivers in both events as Whyte failed to last the distance in Uganda while Rautenbach finished a disappointing fifth in the Volkswagen Rally.
According to reports from Kampala, Whyte was “blown out” of the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally on the last day of the three-day event yesterday, pulling out of the race with three stages to go.
Whyte and his fellow Zimbabwean co-driver Phil Archenoul were left cursing their luck after the gearbox of their Subaru Impreza N10 blew up and they had to call it a day, paving the way for Ugandan champion Ponsiano Wakataka to win the race.
In fact, yesterday was an incident-filled day in Uganda as it first saw rally leader and local favourite Jas Mangat rolling in CS16 one stage from the end of the rally.
Second-placed Whyte also stopped with a gearbox problem.
This left Whyte kicking himself as he blew a golden opportunity of taking over the lead in the ARC Drivers’ Standings in which he is lying in second place behind fellow Zimbabwean Rautenbach.
Rautenbach skipped the Ugandan event, opting to participate in the Volkswagen Rally where a top three finish at the end of the two-day event in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon could have seen him tightening his grip at the top of the South African Rally Championship standings.
But that was not to be, as the 26-year-old Zimbabwean driver and his French co-pilot Nicolas Klinger came fifth in the event that was won by South African privateers Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton.
Rautenbach and Klinger in the Green Fuel Ford Fiesta RS would want to forget this event as quickly as possible.
Because of the protracted delay in finalising last month’s Toyota Gauteng Dealer results, Rautenbach found himself sweeping the stages again on day one and he paid dearly.
Cronje won the rally from start to finish with a masterful display of fast, but controlled, driving that saw him making the minimum mistakes.
The same could not be said of some of the other fancied competitors who excited the event early on rolling their cars in stage one and two.
Cronje finished day one on Friday as the overnight leader with Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries in a BP VW Polo Vivo, and Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock in a Castrol Toyota Auris breathing down his neck some 17 seconds behind.
The start of the second day on Saturday promised much.
Spectators and rally enthusiasts were licking their lips for a close three-way fight between the top three.
Alas, that was not to be when Fekken broke a wheel in stage eight that put an end to his potential battle with Gemmell and the top step of the podium.
Soon afterwards Heinrich Lategan in the Pirtek Peugeot 207 also fell by the wayside.
From there on the event fizzled out to a tame and boring end with all of fancied top runners settling into a rhythm that became a procession towards the end of the rally.
And it was a cake walk for Cronje whose rally career seemed to be over by the end of last year, but since he has found himself behind the wheel of the Sasol Ford Fiesta RS, it seems as if he has come of age.
He seems to be in better control of himself and the car and is no longer just a “hell bent for leather” driver.
By winning the rally, depending on the outcome of the results of the Toyota Gauteng Dealer Rally, Cronje could find himself in second place on the championship log with three rounds of the championship to go.
Watched by a huge crowd of spectators in warm and sunny conditions, the Sasol Ford pair of Cronje and Houghton completed the 175-km 12-special stage event 36,1 seconds ahead of the factory Castrol Toyota of last year’s winners, Gemmell and Sturrock.
Third, a further, 1 min 32,8 sec back was the first of the four factory BP Volkswagen Polos, driven by reigning national rally champions Enzo Kuun and navigated by Guy Hodgson.
Kuun just edged out team-mates and former champions Jan Habig and Robert Paisley, who were fourth, 6,1 sec behind.
Zimbabwean Rautenbach and French co-driver Klinger were fifth in their Green Fuel Ford Fiesta, 2 minutes 10,6 seconds behind the winners.
Jon Williams and Cobus Vrey were sixth in another Sasol Ford Fiesta, 45,9 sec behind Rautenbach.
Rounding out the top 10 were Nicolas Ryan/Armand du Toit (S2000 Grandmark International VW Polo), Red Bull driver Giniel de Villiers and Ralph Pitchford (S2000 BP VW Polo), Guy Botterill/Schalk van Heerden (winners of the Super 1600 class in a Yato Tools Toyota Yaris, and Visser du Plessis/Gerhard Snyman (S2000 Pirtek Peugeot 207). The next round of the South African Rally Championship is the sixth round of the series in the George and Knysna areas of the Garden Route on August 26 and 27
Online Reporter