Conrad wins Zambia Rally

victory of the year in Lusaka yesterday.
Rautenbach won the Zambia International Rally, the third round of the eight-round 2011 African Rally Championship series, in convincing style, coming home three minutes and 10 seconds ahead of second-placed fellow Zimbabwean Jamie Whyte while Mohammed Essa of Zambia came third.
Top Zimbabwean female motor rally driver Laureen Marufu also did well in her maiden appearance in a major international event outside Zimbabwe as she took a credible eight place finish despite facing some serious problems during the last stage of the race yesterday afternoon.
According to Temba Mazvimbakupa, a top official of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation who watched the event in Lusaka at the weekend, Marufu’s car, a Toyota Corolla, caught fire during the very last stage of the race yesterday but she managed to extinguish it and carried on to finish eight, three places behind Paul Monge of Zambia.
Marufu could not hide her excitement yesterday after she produced another brilliant performance, which enabled her to last the distance in the tough 16-stage three-day event.
“My car caught fire during the last stage of the race. I think what happened is that the last stage was so bad as the road was bumpy and this affected the car’s wiring, leading to the car catching fire.
“In fact, when we stopped briefly to check on the engine, we just saw a huge fire coming out of the car after we’d just opened its bonnet but we managed to get the fire extinguisher out quickly to put the fire out.
“This happened about 700 metres to the finish line.
“But I’m chuffed by my overall performance because it was tough out there competing with top experienced male drivers in Africa like Conrad Rautenbach, Jamie Whyte and Muna Singh of Zambia,” Marufu said from Lusaka yesterday.
What a brave woman!
The reigning African champion Whyte, who came second behind Rautenbach in a Subaru Impreza, was also satisfied with his overall performance during three days of racing in and around the surrounding areas of Lusaka.
“This is the second straight year I’ve managed to finish second in this event and I’m happy with it. In fact, it’s just hard to beat Conrad (Rautenbach) in his (more powerful) S2000 Ford Fiesta.
“You just need a big effort inorder to beat him,” said Whyte, who was also speaking from Lusaka yesterday.
Of the 17 cars which were flagged off on Friday afternoon at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Lusaka, only eight managed to last the distance and they included three Zimbabweans – Rautenbach, Whyte and the “Iron Lady” Marufu.
Marufu had Pinky Naido, the sister of top Zambian motor rally driver Muna Singh, as her navigator.
The three-day Zambia International Rally was the third round of the eight-round 2011 FIA African Rally Championship in which Rautenbach is the early pacesetter in the series’ Drivers’ Standings.
And Rautenbach consolidated his lead at the top of the ARC Drivers’ Standings after claiming his third straight victory in this tough competition by taking another first podium place at the end of the Zambia International Rally in Lusaka yesterday afternoon.
Rautenbach picked up another 25 points at the end of business in Lusaka yesterday and this sees him still sitting pretty at the top of the ARC Drivers’ Standings with 75 points.
The 26-year-old Zimbabwean driver picked up his first 50 points in the continental competition by emerging tops in the first two rounds of this year’s ARC series – the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally in Harare in March and last month’s Sasol Rally in Nelspruit, South Africa. In fact, Rautenbach has now won four of five international motor rally events he has so far competed in this year both at home and outside the borders of Zimbabwe.
Only last weekend, he picked up his second victory in the 2011 South African Rally Championship series by winning the HMC Hencom Autobody Rally in Mpumalanga.
The HMC Hencom Autobody Rally was the third round of the 2011 SARC in which Rautenbach is also leading at the top of the series Drivers Standings after registering two wins in the first three rounds of competition.
And Rautenbach continued from where he left off in the HMC Hencom Autobody Rally by registering another top spot finish in the Zambia International Rally in which he took control of the proceedings from the onset on Day One on Friday afternoon.
Rautenbach also cashed in on the early misfortune of two of his main rivals in this year’s ARC series – fellow Zimbabwean Craig Green and Muna Singh of Zambia who crashed out of the race on Day Two on Saturday. This saw Rautenbach ending the day on Saturday in total control of the event, which he finally won yesterday. Driving his G-Fuel ethanol-powered Ford Fiesta S2000, Rautenbach first took early lead in the Zambia International Rally by winning the Super Special stage at the Lusaka Motor Club on Day One on Friday afternoon where he recorded 3 minutes 29 seconds.
Coming out second on Friday was young Zambian driver Essa who recorded 3 minutes and 34 seconds.
Another Zambian rally ace Muna Singh emerged third with the timing of 3 minutes and 36 seconds.
Green of Zimbabwe was fourth with 3 minutes 38 seconds and ARC defending champion Whyte, also of Zimbabwe, only managed a fifth place with 3 minutes 43 seconds. Saturday saw Zambia’s Muna Singh, Imran Ticklay, Ashish Patel and four other drivers crashing out of the race as Zimbabwe’s Rautenbach took an overnight lead.
Rautenbach clocked 1:43:51 at the Graham Rays Farm in Chisamba.
Muna Singh and his co-driver Dave Sihoka were leading when their Subaru Impreza engine blew off on stage 10.
“The car just lost power and we pulled it off the track to check what the problem was but it could not start. It is a pity we were doing well before crashing out,” Muna Singh said.
Others who crashed out due to various problems with their vehicles on Saturday were Jassy Singh, Giacarlo Davite of Rwanda, Green and Richard Robinson (both from Zimbabwe).
Whyte of Zimbabwe was trailing in second position on 1:46:06, Zambia’s Essa third with 1:52:15, Monge managed 1:52:43 and was in fourth position, Zambian based Kenyan driver Mohammed Salim was fifth on 2:09.01.
In fact, the first serious day for the Zambia International Rally on Saturday was full of drama and excitement.
Zambian Muna Singh drove fantastically to lead Rautenbach after stage seven by 59 seconds.
He later blew his engine on stage 10 and retired.
Davite from Rwanda retired after his car’s gearbox broke on stage five as did Zimbabwe’s Robinson with a blown Turbo. Rautenbach later complained of very rough stages during the day.
Essa also lost time when his diff failed and only had 2WD. He also punctured in stage two and four to lose more time.
Zimbabwe’s Green was third for most of the day but then crashed out on stage 10.
Rautenbach later expressed disappointment that Muna Singh crashed out.
“It is unfortunate that Muna had to crash out because I was enjoying the fight,” he said.
The young Zimbabwean hung on to his lead yesterday to reach home first at the end of three days of grueling racing.
Next up for Rautenbach, Whyte and Marufu is the fourth round of the ARC series – the KCB Safari Rally of Kenya – to be staged during weekend of June 17-19 in the eastern African country.
Zambia International Rally Final Results
1. Conrad Rautenbach (Zimbabwe) 2:34:14
2. Jamie Whyte (Zimbabwe) 2:37:24
3. Mohammed Essa (Zambia) 2:44:41
4. Paul Monge (Zambia) 2:48:46
5. Beaini (Zambia) 3:14:10
6. Salim (Zambia) 3:15:27
7. Azim (Zambia) 3:29:37
8. Laureen Marufu (Zimbabwe) 3:54:05.