Jamie Whyte moves to Toyota

retain the FIA African Rally Championship Drivers’ crown this year.
After settling for second place behind fellow Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach in the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally three weeks ago, Whyte has decided to mount another serious challenge in this year’s ARC series by acquiring a top-of-the-range Toyota Auris S2000 for next month’s Sasol Rally in South Africa.
The Sasol Rally will, for the first time this year, act as the second round of the prestigious eight-legged FIA ARC series and will be held in Nelspruit, some 350km outside Johannesburg, during the weekend of April 15-17. The 2011 FIA ARC series opened with the staging of the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally from March 11 to 13 in and around Harare where Whyte was beaten into second place by Rautenbach.
During that race, Whyte and his co-pilot Phil Archenoul were in a Subaru Impreza which was forced to play second fiddle by Rautenbach’s more powerful Ford Fiesta S2000. And after his painful defeat by Rautenbach in Harare, Whyte has decided to “arm himself” with an equally powerful Totoya Auris S2000 for next month’s Sasol Rally in South Africa.
He will hire the car from one of South Africa’s top motor rally drivers Hein Lategan. A local company, Toyota Zimbabwe, is going to help Whyte in hiring the car from Lategan as they would like to see the bubbly 50-year-old Zimbabwean giving a strong chase in the Sasol Rally.
Ian Howden, the managing director of Toyota Zimbabwe, confirmed yesterday that they were going to help two-time African champion Whyte in hiring the Toyota Auris S2000 from Lategan.
“Yes, that’s right. We are going to help Jamie Whyte in hiring a Toyota Auris S2000 from South African Hein Lategan for next month’s Sasol Rally.
“In fact, Toyota Zimbabwe will be sponsoring him (Whyte) to get the car from Lategan and it will be a one-off drive for the Sasol Rally where we would like to see him mounting a strong challenge during that race,” Howden said.
Whyte’s young brother, Shaun, also confirmed yesterday that Toyota Zimbabwe has come to the rescue of the reigning ARC Drivers’ champion by helping him to get the Toyota Auris S2000 from Lategan for the Sasol Rally.
“Toyota Zimbabwe are coming to the party for the Sasol Rally where they will help Jamie with the hiring costs for the Toyota Auris S2000 that he is going to use during that race.
“We are very grateful to them (Toyota Zimbabwe) for their kind gesture and I’m quite convinced that Jamie, with all his experience, will not let them down in the Sasol Rally where he will be looking at getting a top three podium finish,” Shaun Whyte said.
This will be the first time that Jamie Whyte, who is currently away in Zambia on business, will be competing in an S2000 Class car and it will be interesting to see how he will handle it in the Sasol Rally where he will once again be coming up against Rautenbach.
Rautenbach currently leads the 2011 FIA ARC Drivers’ Standings with 25 points, seven ahead of Jamie Whyte after beating the latter into second place in the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally three weeks ago.
The two will be back on the road again in Nelspruit during the weekend of April 15-17 where they will be joined by another top Zimbabwean driver Craig Green who is also registered for this year’s FIA ARC series.
Rautenbach, Whyte and Green will be joined in Nelspruit by young Chase Attwell and local female driver Laureen Marufu who have both indicated that they will compete in the Sasol Rally.
In fact, it is reported from South Africa that Zimbabwean Attwell has bought Visser du Plessis’s Toyota Auris S2000 and will compete in the Sasol Rally.
Marufu is also likely to make the trip Down South in her Toyota Corolla, which helped her to chalk up an impressive sixth-place finish in this year’s Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally. The 33-year-old Harare businesswoman is likely to get more support from two local companies – Kwikstop Motorsport and Xtreme Oils – who bankrolled her participation in this year’s Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally.