South African national rallies compare well with those held in the United Kingdom, but if they want to get on equal footing with other European rallies, the controlling body of rallies would have to introduce recce’s for the competitors. This is the opinion of internationally rated rally competitor, Conrad Rautenbach, who is competing in the SA Sasol National Rally Championship this year.
Rautenbach has been a regular competitor in the Junior World Rally Championship and the World Rally Championship in the past few years. He will be in action a Class S2000 Ford Fiesta on the Rally of South Africa on 28/29 May in the Ermelo District.
Rauntenbach, who lives in Zimbabwe, said in an interview that South African rallies are well organised by very passionate people. He has found the South African events very challenging since it is the first time that he is doing all eight rounds and he is not used to enter rallies without a recce. “Without a recce it is very hard to drive flat out, I’m also used to longer rallies”, he said.
“Recce for me is the big thing. I do not know if it is a cost reason, but it would take less time. All you need is one full day for a recce. We are now spending over three days with the DVD and it is hard for drivers that have learnt to rally on their own notes to drive on someone else’s”, he added.
“I’ve liked the stages so far. They have been quite different in nature and challenging and that is what rallying needs. I think all the works drivers are very good and fully committed. There is a bit of a gap between the work’s drivers and the rest of the S2000 field, but it will, be interesting to see where Charl Wilken fits in with his new S2000 Ford Fiesta”, he said.
Rautenbach has so far given the local S2000 competitors a good run for their money in his M-Sport developed S2000 Ford Fiesta. He said that the car would be ready again for the Rally of South Africa after the mechanical problems they had on the Sasol that caused them not to finish while leading the event.