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African Rally Championship standings when he swept to victory in the HMC Hencom Autobody Rally which was held in Mpumalanga, South Africa, at the weekend.
The rally was the third round of the 2011 South African Rally Championship series.
And Rautenbach has now won two of the first three rounds of the series after he first emerged triumphant in the season-opener – Total Tour Natal Rally in KwaZulu Natal – towards the end of March. He then followed this up by securing a third-place finish in the second round of the series – the Sasol Rally – which was held in Nelspruit on April 15 and 16. And at the weekend, Rautenbach chalked up his second victory in this year’s tough eight-round South African Rally Championship series by winning the HMC Hencom Autobody Rally in Mpumalanga at the weekend.
According to reports from Emalahleni (Mpumalanga), Rautenbach sneaked a close win in this rally on Saturday afternoon. In a dramatic event that saw the top three finishers swap places in each of the last three special stages, Rautenbach and his French co-driver Nicolas Klinger, in a class S2000 G-Fuel Ford Fiesta,
In fact, Rautenbach and Klinger snatched a dramatic 2,5 seconds win on the penultimate stage of the rally, ending a thrilling contest in the Mpumulanga Highveld region, extending their overall lead in the title chase to 18 points.
The privateer G-Fuel Ford Fiesta S2000 pair blasted through the 17.3km 10th stage 12.7 seconds faster than their similarly Ford Fiesta-mounted rivals to leapfrog from third to the top step of the podium. It wasn’t all plain sailing for Rautenbach and Klinger, who started the event with a stage win to take the early lead, which they held until stage three.
“We were first on the road on Friday and lost a lot of time in stage three which was very slippery over the grassy sections,” Rautenbach explained, slipping to second overall just over eight seconds in arrears.
Midway through Saturday’s stages, Rautenbach and Klinger slipped to third overall, where they stayed in the hunt after winning stage eight before closing the gap to 1.4 seconds before the big penultimate stage push.
“The car developed a misfire in stage seven and the alternator broke in stage nine and we both lost concentration as we watched the battery current drop to critical levels.
“I knew that stage 10 was crucial as it gets narrow and technical halfway through it with trees close to the edge of the road and that would be where the rally would be won or lost,” said the championship leader.
Klinger was ecstatic with their second win from three events in the South African series.
“This series is so competitive. Conrad was fantastic and the rhythm in the car when we push flat out is very good. I’m happy for Conrad”.
HMC Hencom Autobody Rally results
1. Conrad Rautenbach S2000 Ford Fiesta
2. Charl Wilken S2000 Ford Fiesta
3. Johnny Gemmell S2000 Toyota Auris
4. Jannie Habig S2000 VW Polo
5. Hergan Fekken S2000 VW Polo
6. Jon Williams S2000 Ford Fiesta
7. Giniel de Villiers S2000 VW Polo
8. Mark Cronje S2000 Ford Fiesta
9. Enzo Kuun S2000 VW Polo
10. Nick Ryan S2000 VW Polo.

Klinger was ecstatic with their second win from three events in the South African series.
“This series is so competitive. Conrad was fantastic and the rhythm in the car when we push flat out is very good. I’m happy for Conrad”.
Second, 2.5 seconds behind Rautenbach after 172km of high speed gravel racing, was the Basil Read/Bizhub Ford Fiesta RS of Charl Wilken/Greg Godrich.
Wilken took the lead on Saturday afternoon and led the rally up stage eight when Rautenbach produced a blinder of a stage in stage nine to take the lead from Wilken.
Rautenbach had been holding station in third position for most of the day until he produced a brilliant run to give him the lead.
In the process he also overhauled the then second placed Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock in a Team Castrol Toyota Auris who was relegated to third overall.
Rautenbach, who also won the first rally on the 2011 season, the Total Tour Natal Rally, was leading the championship at the start of the HMC Hencom Rally.
He has now increased his lead.
Jean-Pierre Damseaux in a Toyota RunX, who was second in the championship at the start of the event, lost a lot of time at the end of stage nine when the Toyota rolled and he fell out of the top 10 after being eight overall at that stage.
The second Team Castrol Toyota Auris of Leeroy Poulter/Elvene Coetzee lost some 12 minutes after stage eight.
Poulter had been struggling without first gear on two stages and the gearbox was changed in 25 minutes at the end of stage seven.
In stage eight, however, a wire had come loose from the alternator and the car lost all its power when the battery was run flat.
Poulter managed to fix the problem, but the time they lost cost them fourth place.
Another top Zimbabwean motor rallying driver Chase Attwell, in a Toyota Auris, also took part in the weekend’s rally but he failed to last the distance, going out of the race in stage three on Friday.
HMC Hencom Autobody Rally results
1. Conrad Rautenbach S2000 Ford Fiesta
2. Charl Wilken S2000 Ford Fiesta
3. Johnny Gemmell S2000 Toyota Auris
4. Jannie Habig S2000 VW Polo
5. Hergan Fekken S2000 VW Polo
6. Jon Williams S2000 Ford Fiesta
7. Giniel de Villiers S2000 VW Polo
8. Mark Cronje S2000 Ford Fiesta
9. Enzo Kuun S2000 VW Polo
10. Nick Ryan S2000 VW Polo