adminrally champion during the FIA end-of-the-year prize-giving gala in New Delhi, India.
FIA are the world’s motorsport governing body and this year they chose New Delhi as the venue for their end-of-the-year prize-giving gala where they honour all their world champions of the year. In fact, the FIA Annual General Assembly and the prize-giving gala were held for the first time in New Delhi.
The FIA AGA and prize-giving gala were held together for the very first time, giving all AGA delegates an opportunity to witness the annual prize-giving gala as well.
The traditional FIA event was not held this year in the French Principality of Monte Carlo and India on Friday witnessed the crowning of champions from Formula 1 to those of other FIA-certified events such as African Rally Championship, World Touring Car, World Rally Championship, World Karting, Asia Pacific Rally and Formula Two. The FIA prize-giving took place at the “Kingdom of Dreams” at Gurgaon and Zimbabwe’s Rautenbach and his French co-driver Nicolas Klinger were among a host of international motorsport champions who received their prizes on Friday night.
Rautenbach this year clinched the African Rally Championship Drivers’ crown for the second time in his illustrious career, snatching the title from fellow Zimbabwean Jamie Whyte.
The 27-year-old talented driver first clinched the African title in 2007 before he joined the Citroen Team for the World Junior Rally Championship in 2008 and 2009.
The year 2010 saw Rautenbach “returning home” to race in Africa where he competed in the South African Rally Championship series without much success. But he returned this year with a vengeance, winning both the FIA African Rally Championship and the South African Rally Championship titles, scoring a historic double in the process. Rautenbach first regained the African title after winning the first three rounds of the eight-event championship series in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Zambia in March, April and May this year to steer clear of the chasing pack. He then settled for a sixth place finish in the fourth round of the 2011 FIA ARC series in Kenya in June before coming fourth in the sixth round in Tanzania towards the end of August.
These results were good enough to secure Rautenbach his second African motor rally title. And to put the icing on the cake, the young Zimbabwean driver was later declared the 2011 South African Rally Champion following the ruling of a Motorsport South Africa National Court of Appeal that the results of the fourth round of the championship be declared null and void.
With the results of the Toyota Gauteng Dealer Rally on June 10 and 11 erased from the records, Rautenbach won the drivers’ championship with a total of 127 points.
He and his French co-driver Klinger won three of the seven events that counted in their Super 2000 Green Fuel-backed Ford Fiesta and finished on the podium four times.
Mark Cronje of South Africa was second in the drivers’ championship with 112 points after winning two events and finishing on the podium three times with co-driver Robin Houghton in an S2000 Sasol Ford Fiesta.
Third place went to Johnny Gemmell in an S2000 Team Castrol Toyota Auris with 105 points. He and Scottish co-driver Drew Sturrock scored three second places and a third in the seven rounds. Fourth was the defending champion Enzo Kuun (BP Volkswagen Polo) with 97 points and fifth was Gemmell’s teammate and S2000 rookie Leeroy Poulter with 89 points.
Poulter, in only his second year in rallying, scored two wins and heads the MSA national rally seedings (a ranking system based on timed special stage performance throughout the year) from Cronje, Gemmell, Charl Wilken (Ford Fiesta) and Rautenbach.
Klinger was not eligible to score championship points as he competed with a French licence, so the co-drivers’ championship went to Houghton of South Africa with 115 points.
But this did not stop Rautenbach’s Green Fuel team from celebrating their phenomenal achievement of conquering both Africa and South Africa in unforgettable season this year.
Online Reporter