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22.05.2008
Conrad Rautenbach -Welcome to: Acropolis Rally of Greece Acropolis Rally of Greece FIA World Rally Championship, round 7/15 Athens, Greece Preview This is the World Rally Championship's benchmark rough and tough rally. It's a car killer and one of the most arduous and physically demanding events a driver will ever compete on. The route has changeddown the years, with a more sprint-oriented WRC demanding slightly less rocky roads, but when the crews arrive back in Athens on Sunday afternoon, they'll know full-well that they've just finished the Acropolis Rally. The roads used on this year's Acropolis are classics. They contain the perfect blend of outright speed and challenge, calling for pinpoint precision to thread a World Rally Car down tight, boulder-laden tracks allied to the nerve to pull the big gears and trust suspension and tyres to deal with what's being thrown at them. And all of this under the baking Mediterranean summer sun. This year's event is based north of Athens in the Tatoi area, with arguably the best of the stages coming on Saturday. Aghii Theodori's reputation is known across the globe in rallying circles. Coming out of this stage once is an achievement, but next week the fastest drivers in the world will run the gauntlet of Greece's finest rallying challenge twice. Between them, the two runs at Aghii Theodori – totalling 65km – are near-certain to have a telling effect on the outcome of this event. Conrad Rautenbach has done this event three times and finished twice. He knows what's required to manhandle a machine down some of the hottest and toughest stages on the planet. The last time he competed in Greece was in 2006, with that event marking his first ever World Rally Championship outing in a four-wheel-drive car (Group N Subaru Impreza WRX). Conrad's column The Acropolis Rally is all about heat, dust and tough stages. Coming from Africa, that's right up my street. I've always enjoyed the Acropolis – it's a real challenge. It's not quite the same as it once was, the roads are a bit quicker and wider now, but it can still throw up the unexpected – usually in the shape of an enormous rock right in the middle of the road. Aside from the roads being a bit wider and faster than in Sardinia, the other difference will be on the tyres. The tyres are going to have to work quite a bit harder in Greece. The difference from Sardinia is the surface was softer in Italy. This meant the tyre was generally spinning on top of the surface, or digging the surface out rather than getting down and biting into the road. In Greece, the tyres will bite down to a very hard base, so we will have much better grip – but at the same time this means there will be a lot more tyre wear than on the last round. I'm not too concerned about the way we're using the tyres. Having come from the Junior World Rally Championship, one of the things driving a reasonably powerful front-wheel-drive car teaches you is to look after your tyres. On every gravel rally we did in the Citroen C2, we could have scrubbed the fronts in no time. Juniors has, actually, been a really good grounding for learning to look after all aspects of the car, but I think maybe I have been looking after this C4 WRC a bit too much. In Sardinia I was starting to give it a bit more abuse and starting to use the car properly. When I first drove the C4 in Mexico, I'd never have believed what we were doing with the car four rallies later – I simply didn't think the car would take it. It's things like really chopping through the corners and putting the car off the road if the line takes you there. In this car, you see a rock on the line and you go straight over it. The Pirelli tyres and the suspension on a modern World Rally Car are just incredible. It really is a different world in a World Rally Car. Driving the car as hard as you need to get the times out of it doesn't always feel that nice; there's not much margin for mechanical sympathy. The car needs to know who's boss. I'm learning more about that all of the time and as every event passes and I've spent longer in the car, I feel more confident. What would be great in Greece is three days of consistent performance from the car. We struggled a bit with that in Sardinia. But, on the last day [in Sardinia] I was in a rhythm and feeling good. If we can put together three Sardinian Sundays on the Acropolis, that would suit me fine – and it would give us the chance to be right up there.
Last time out: Rally d'Italia-Sardegna (15.05.08-18.05.08) The Italian round of the World Rally Championship saved the best until last for reigning FIA African Rally Champion Conrad Rautenbach. The Zimbabwean and his PH Sport-run Citroen C4 WRC were on stunning form through the final day's five stages. Having endured handbrake and handling issues for the previous two days, Rautenbach found the car's set-up to his liking and charged through a Sardinian Sunday. Despite the early troubles with the car, Rautenbach had closed on the top 10, only for an electrical sensor problem to rob the engine of power on Saturday afternoon, dropping him back. He made up one place and closed on the drivers ahead of him, but he ran out of rally before he could make it into the top 10. The full facts: Conrad Rautenbach Age: 23 The full facts: Acropolis Rally of Greece Start: Acropolis, Athens 1930** Thursday May 29 ** All times local
- CR Media -
Author: maggy (admin2)
Last modified: Thursday, 22.05.2008 - 06:14 More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
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