Double African Rally Champions Jamie Whyte and Phil Archenoul finally achieved success on their home event when the pair powered their Subaru Impreza N10 to a dominant victory on the recent Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally.
The action was always going to be fierce during the three day event as there were no less than three former champions amongst the 21 entries. Former Citroen WRC driver Conrad Rautenbach set the initial pace when he beat his own stage record around the opening test! Rautenbach, now driving a Ford Fiesta Super 2000 machine, was the man to beat over the opening six stages but was destined for retirement when the power steering failed on his car.
This then allowed Craig Green in a Mitsubishi to take the overall lead but with both Jamie Whyte (Zimbabwe) and Muna Singh (Zambia) close behind the rally was far from over. Singh, a former African Champion, lost time towards the end of the second day with a damaged rear differential but still entered the third and final leg third overall.
Sunday saw the remaining crews tackle a further seven stages before returning to the Rainbow Towers back in Harare for the ceremonial finish. Green was the first front runner to experience problems as his transmission failed. This elevated Rwandan Giancarlo Davite into third position. But the Subaru pilot then had an off road adventure on the penultimate stage and lost two wheels on his Subaru! Fastest through this test was junior driver Quentin Mitchell, from Kenya, and such was his time that the 24 year old was elevated to third overall!
With Whyte, the 2009 and 2010 African Rally Champion, now holding a comfortable lead of over two minutes over Muna Singh, the final spectator stage was a mere formality as the Subaru pilot took his first ever home victory on this challenging rally!
The Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally was also the scene for the African Pirelli Star Driver selection. Two young talents would be chosen to represent Africa in the worldwide Pirelli Star Driver programme. Zimbabwe Chase Attwell and Zambian Mohammed Essa were both chosen after setting impressive stage times before ultimately retiring their respective Subarus’.
The 2011 season begins in Zimbabwe next March.
Photos courtesy of Geoff Mayes Media (www.geoffmayesmedia.com)