by Rob Wilkins


Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach has confirmed that he will again compete in the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship next year, after a good year in 2006.

Rautenbach took the BRC Junior title this season, ending the year with 81 points, having beaten a host of top drivers', including FIA Junior WRC front runner, Guy Wilks and 2006 JWRC Rookie winner, Barry Clark. The 22-year-old had a busy season, competing in the BRC, the JWRC and in Africa and he is hoping to do the same in 2007, something that should ensure he has another packed schedule.

"It has been a great year and we have done lots of events. It was really nice," he told Crash.net Radio earlier this month. "It hasn't been hard [switching from cars, from the BRC to the JWRC and so on], but it has been a bit tricky to get the braking points and pace notes and all that right. I think next year we will focus on one car to get the maximum out of it.

"We are doing the BRC [in 2007] - that is confirmed and we are actually going to do the African championship as well. That is confirmed too. Hopefully we will do the Junior Rally Championship too but I can't confirm that yet. We will see."

Asked if he will be backed by the same sponsors, he added that he will be teaming up with John Lloyd again - although at this stage he doesn't know what car he will end up using, having used a Group N Subaru Impreza this season in the BRC and a Renault Clio in the JWRC, both run by Geoff Jones Motorsport.

"Yeah John Lloyd is backing us again. The car is not confirmed yet though, but hopefully it is probably going to be the same one that we can use in the FIA Junior Rally Championship," he added.