Conrad Rautenbach’s Ford Fiesta S2000 is Africa-bound after a frantic week of preparations at M-Sport’s Cumbrian base in Britain.

The former FIA African Rally Champion and his car departed Heathrow airport this evening (Friday) and are due to land in Johannesburg tomorrow morning. The team will meet Conrad at the airport before embarking on the two-day drive down to Cape Town, where the car will be prepared for its South African Rally Championship debut on next weekend’s Toyota Dealer Rally.

“I’ll be glad when the car’s in Africa and on the road south,” said Rautenbach just before boarding his flight. “It’s been a pretty busy week in the UK, but the good news is that I have tested the car – and it’s absolutely awesome! I only did about 10 kilometers as a shakedown at the airfield in Cumbria, but it felt fantastic. The suspension felt really good, it was great. Okay, it was only an airfield and it was only 10 kilometers or something, but the feeling was good.”

The team will now test the car close to Cape Town on Tuesday or Wednesday, when Conrad will discover just how the Fiesta handles the fast African terrain.