Conrad shines at Natal Rally

high when he secured victory in the Total Tour Natal Rally after an epic battle with ebullient Jan Habig of South Africa in Durban at the weekend.
It was the second career victory in South Africa for the 26-year-old driving genius who won the Toyota Dealer Rally in Cape Town in March last year.
For his G-Fuel Ford Fiesta team, it marked another champagne finish to the start of the 2011 season after Rautenbach swept to victory in the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally in Harare three weeks ago.
The two-day Total Tour Natal Rally, which started on Friday afternoon, was the opening round of the eight-legged 2011 South African Rally Championship series.
And Rautenbach sent a clear message that he will be the man to beat in this year’s series by producing a brilliant drive to claim victory.
According to reports from Durban, Zimbabwean privateer Rautenbach and his French co-driver Nicolas Klinger (G-Fuel Ford Fiesta) emerged victorious after a heart-stopping battle with multiple former champion Habig and Robert Paisley in a factory BP Volkswagen Polo in the closing stages of the Total Tour Natal Rally on Saturday afternoon.
The gap at the end of the opening round of the South African Rally Championship series, run over two days and 14 special stages on KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast, was just 8,2 seconds after 14 special stages and 155km of mainly gravel road racing.
Third, 44,1 seconds behind the winners, were Habig’s factory VW teammates and defending South African national champions Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson in another VW Polo.
Former champions Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries were fourth in another BP VW Polo, 2 minutes 6,8 seconds behind the winning Ford Fiesta of Rautenbach.
Privateers Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Carolyn Swan were fifth in a Team Total Toyota RunX, 21,4 seconds ahead of Nicholas Ryan and Geoff Tyrer in a privateer VW Polo.
Making up the top 10, all of whom were competing in the premier Super 2000 class for two-litre four-wheel drive cars, were Jon Williams and Cobus Vrey in the second Sasol Ford Fiesta, stage rally debutant and 2009 Dakar Rally winner Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Ralph Pitchford in the fourth of the factory VWs, privateers Japie van Niekerk and Dave Lewkowitz (New Africa Developments VW Polo) and Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock in a factory Castrol Toyota RunX.
Gemmell was fifth at the end of the first day, but dropped back on stage 11 with a puncture that cost him nearly four minutes.
Team-mates Leeroy Poulter and Elvene Coetzee impressed in their first outing together in the second factory Toyota Auris, running as high as fifth before they hit a rock and broke a tie-rod on stage eight.
Rautenbach was just over the moon yesterday after winning what he said was one of the toughest races he has competed in in his illustrious career.
“It was good to win . . . It was fantastic to win the first race of the year in South Africa. The competition was very tough as we only won by about 8 seconds or slightly more.
“We are now leading in both the standings of the African Rally Championship and the South African Rally Championship series and that’s good for us,” said Rautenbach from South Africa yesterday.
He also gave a thumbs up to his G-Fuel team for a job well done at the weekend.
“My G-Fuel team and my mechanics, who included (veteran Zimbabwean motor rallying driver) Colin Schreiber, did a good job again and I would like to thank them for helping me to win this race on Saturday,” Rautenbach said.
Rautenbach started the final day on Saturday in fourth place after finishing 28,2 seconds behind Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton in a Sasol Ford Fiesta on Friday, but quickly closed the gap to the leader to 13,9 seconds after winning the opening two stages of the day.
Cronje, in his debut appearance in the brand new Ford, dominated on Friday and won all five stages.
He lost his lead on Saturday on stage 10 after the Ford landed on its nose over a hump and damaged the cooling system.
He dropped back to second and then retired after the next stage when he clipped the edge of a bridge and broke a rear wheel.
Habig then took up the challenge after starting the day 10,7 seconds behind Rautenbach.
He won stages 10 and 12 and led the Zimbabwean by a meagre three tenths of a second with just one 11-km gravel stage and a 1-km tarmac stage in Amanzimtoti remaining.
An engine misfire on the penultimate stage and a blistering stage-winning performance by the Zimbabwean saw Habig drop 7,4 seconds behind Rautenbach, who then sealed his victory in style with third-fastest time on the final short stage.
Ashley Haigh Smith and Hilton Auffray comfortably won the new Super 1600 class (formerly A6) in a new React Ford Fiesta by 34,5 sec from Tjaart Conradie and Kes Naidoo (Silverton Engineering Toyota Auris).
The new Super 1400 class (formerly A5) was won by the all-woman crew of Megan Verlaque and Lirene du Plessis (BP VW Polo). They were the only finishers in their class.
There were no finishers in class A7, where reigning champion Gugu Zulu and co-driver Carl Peskin led at the end of the first day in a factory BP VW Polo.
A leaking gearbox on Friday could not be fixed before Saturday’s re-start and they called it a day.
But kudos must go to Rautenbach for the way he handled his G-Fuel G85 ethanol powered Ford Fiesta during the two-day event which had a large field of 38 cars.
Rautenbach first ended day one of racing on Friday in second place behind Coetzee after he won the first two stages in the morning and made it look like he was determined to catch Cronje.
Rautenbach ended the day on Friday on 67:32.4, followed by the BP VW Racing crew of Kuun/Hodgson in a Polo Vivo on 67: 42.9.
On day two on Saturday, Rautenbach and his French navigator, Klinger, took the attack to Cronje from the start of the first stage of the day, stage six.
Rautenbach and Cronje both spun in the stage, but there was no harm done with Rautenbach coming out of the stage as the winner.
It was his first stage win.
In stage seven, Rautenbach was again the quickest and won his second stage of the day before he overtook Cronje and then Habig to claim the first podium finish in the thrilling race.