Conrad's Fast Facts

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  • Name: Conrad Rautenbach
  • Age: 23
  • Nationality: Zimbabwean
  • Career:
    2002 Zimbabwean Rally Champion
    2006 British Junior Rally Champion
    2007 FIA African Rally Champion
    2007 Safari Rally winner
    2008 PH Sport Citroen Technologies C4 WRC driver
African Rally Champion 2007

FIA AFRICAN RALLY CHAMPION, 2007

 
Africa, France, Ireland… a busy time for Conrad

We’re only 12 days into the year and already you’ve clocked up some air miles…

I know – but that’s always the way when my family are in Zimbabwe and I’m staying in London. I was hardly back in London before I was off to France for the test though – and now I’m about to head back to the airport to fly to Ireland for the first event of the year. What a busy start!

Do you know much about the Galway International Rally?
Not much. I know a bit about Irish rallying from my time in the BRC, but I’ve never driven on those roads in Galway. I’m quite surprised there aren’t more people doing this event as a shakedown for Rally Ireland – it’s the perfect opportunity to get some practice in before Ireland.

What’s the priority for the event?
The priority is to get comfortable on the roads and get comfortable with the suspension settings.

Isn’t it going to be tough switching from the Xsara back to the C4?
No, it’ll be fine. Okay, the car’s different, but the suspension is pretty much the same and settings we pick up in Galway will work in Ireland on the C4. We’ve already had a good day of testing in France, so we’ve already got a good idea of where we’re going with the car for Rally Ireland.

Can you win the event?
That’s not why I’m there. Of course I’d love to win the event; I’m a competitive driver – that’s why we do this sport. But the reason I’m going is to get ready for Rally Ireland. Having said that, if we’re in a good position on the rally and everything is going well, then it would be good to try and push for the win. But, don’t forget, there are some really quick Irish drivers over there who will be tough to beat. To try and win an event like this on my first time in a World Rally Car on those roads would be unrealistic, I think.

You tried the Monte Carlo-specification snow tyre on the recent test in France. How was that?
It was good. It’s quite a relief to know we’ll have that tyre available to us if the weather turns nasty in Ireland. The tyre worked well on the test. If we’re forced to use it, it would mean a bit of a change in the car set-up ahead of the stage; just some adjustments to the damper clicks. And the way you drive the car on that tyre is different, too – you have to be more sideways. You drive the car a bit more like a gravel than asphalt stage.

How was your first time in the car with Daniel [Barritt, new co-driver]?
Really good. We had no problems at all. We made a few very small alterations to the notes, but otherwise everything was perfect. It’s really helped me to have some time with Daniel before our first event together – and then doing Galway before our first WRC round together will help as well.

Did you know Daniel before he started co-driving for you?
Yes, I’ve known him for a while – since my days in the BRC (2006). And then I obviously knew him from the world championship when he was competing in the P-WRC. We’ve both had a good break and we’re both really keen to get cracking on this year’s programme.