Conrad Rautenbach notched up a fantastic result on the Rally Argentina last weekend and in the process wrote his name in the record books by becoming the first Zimbabwean to ever score 'senior' points in the WRC.
The 23-year-old did it in real style too, as he was fourth overall in his privately entered PH-Sport-run
Citroen C4 WRC, having gained 17 places, after ending SS1 in a lowly 21st position.
It was a mature and calculated drive from the 2007
FIA African Rally champion, given the atrocious conditions over the three-days and while he no doubt benefited from the high attrition rate, it still belied his lack of experience of both the car - this being only his second event in the C4, and only his fifth ever world championship start in a World Rally Car - and the roads, as he had never competed in Argentina before.
"I can't believe it! This is a little bit crazy! Fourth place on my first time in Argentina and only my second event in the C4. It's taking a while to sink in, I can tell you," he reflected.
"Last night I went to bed thinking about fifth place and what an incredible achievement that would be - and then we passed Petter [Solberg] in the Condor stage and I couldn't stop myself thinking: ‘Now we're fourth!'
"I really had to focus on the road ahead and just keep on listening to the notes. The conditions this morning were really tough again. The rain was there and then, because the stages were climbing high again, we were back into the low cloud and the fog.
"It would have been easy to make a mistake – particularly in Condor; that stage is so twisty. Clipping a rock or something in the fog would have ruined the whole rally for us, so I just tried to find a rhythm and stick with it. And it worked.
"This result is incredible. Not just for me, but for everybody involved. The team, David [Senior – my co-driver], everybody. I'm so happy about it.
