BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
HE might have narrowly missed out on achieving his goal of securing a podium finish in the 2020 Dakar Rally, but Zimbabwean rally driver Conrad Rautenbach was still delighted with his fourth place on his return to the gruelling race which ended on Friday in Saudi Arabia.
Competing in the side-by-side vehicle class (SSV) for the first time in a new car for a different team and in the company of a new co-driver was always going to be a tough challenge for Rautenbach, but he was delighted with how he fared.
“I think all in all I had a good race, but obviously a bit upset that we couldn’t get on the podium,” Rautenbach told Standardsport in an interview yesterday.
“It was a new team for me, new car, different category and also a new co-driver and competing in a new country, so it was a lot of new things.
“It’s been a long time since the last Dakar so I haven’t been racing that much, but we did a good job, we showed some good speed and showed the car’s potential, it’s a good car.
“Overall we’re happy, Saudi Arabia was good and it was a totally new experience and we enjoyed our time here.”
The two-time African Rally champion and ex-World Rally Championship (WRC) competitor and his Portuguese co-driver Pedro Bianchi Prata followed their team strategy to a “T”, with a near-flawless run throughout the ultra-tough 2020 Dakar Rally.
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Rautenbach showed strength of character in adopting a risk-free strategy in the difficult conditions, while also demonstrating the speed potential of the French team PH Sport’s buggy.
The Zimbabwean held his own throughout the gruelling 12 stages, covering almost 7 900km to finish in fourth place, one hour 12 minutes behind class winner American Casey Currie, who came out tops in the SSV category which featured 41 drivers.
Russian Sergei Kariakin and Francisco Lopez Contardo, from Chile, finished second and third, respectively.
Rautenbach was making his second appearance in the Dakar Rally after finishing ninth in the cars section in 2017.
There was also joy for Zimbabwe in the bike category after Graeme Sharp also achieved his dream of becoming the first local bike rider to finish the tough rally after he finished 74th overall on debut appearance.
The 2020 Dakar Rally was marred by the death of Portuguese rider Paulo Goncalves during last Sunday’s seventh stage.
The decision to stage the race in Saudi Arabia this year and for at least the next four years sparked an angry reaction from critics of the kingdom’s human rights record.
