Rautenbach comes from a motorsport family: his father, Billy Rautenbach, was a multiple-time Zimbabwean rally champion whose best WRC result was an eleventh-place finish at the 1992 Safari Rally in a Toyota Celica GT-Four. Conrad obtained his driving licence at 16 and made his rally debut in 2001 on the Dunlop Zimbabwe Challenge Rally, finishing seventh overall in a Toyota Corolla with his father as co-driver. In 2003 he secured second overall in a national rally and won the 1600cc Cup in the FIA African Rally Championship. In 2005, at 20 years old, he became the youngest winner of an FIA ARC round with a victory at the Kenya Safari Rally.
Rautenbach won the African Rally Championship in 2007 at the age of 22, accumulating 85 points across the season with five rally victories. His campaign included a record-breaking third consecutive victory at the Dunlop Zimbabwe Challenge Rally. He also competed in the Junior World Rally Championship in 2006 and 2007 driving a Citroën C2 S1600 with co-driver David Senior, finishing fifth in the JWRC standings in 2006 and runner-up in 2007.
After stepping away from the WRC following 2009, Rautenbach returned to African rallying and claimed his second ARC title in 2011, this time driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 alongside co-driver Nicolas Klinger. The 2011 title was secured through consistent results including victories at rounds such as the Sasol Rally South Africa.
Rautenbach's first full WRC season in the top class was run by the privately operated PH Sport team in a Citroën C4 WRC. Over six entries he recorded two points finishes: eighth at one round and a career-best fourth at the Rally Argentina — the first time a Zimbabwean driver had scored WRC points — earning five championship points in that single result. His co-driver David Senior was also achieving his best WRC result, having previously finished fourth in the 2001 Rally GB with Alister McRae.
The 2008 Jordan Rally produced one of the more memorable incidents in recent WRC history. Rautenbach and Sébastien Loeb, the reigning world champion, collided head-on during the event. Both cars were forced to retire immediately.
For 2009 Rautenbach joined the works-backed Citroën Junior Team, still driving a Citroën C4 WRC. Across twelve entries he recorded six finishes and accumulated nine points, with a fifth place at the Acropolis Rally in Greece as his best result. He also scored points with a sixth at the Cyprus Rally and eighth-place finishes at Rally Ireland and the Wales Rally GB. Multiple retirements through the season, including accidents and mechanical failures, limited his overall championship position. He did not secure a WRC drive for 2010 and has not returned to the championship since.
In total, Rautenbach made 18 starts in the WRC's top class across 2008 and 2009, recording 10 finishes and accumulating 15 championship points.
Rautenbach made his Dakar Rally debut in 2017, becoming the first Zimbabwean to compete in the event. Driving a Toyota Hilux in the cars category alongside co-driver Robert Howie, he completed all 12 stages of the South American route and finished ninth overall, earning the Rookie of the Year award as the top first-time finisher.
He returned to the Dakar in 2020, competing in the Side-by-Side Vehicle class for the French team PH Sport in a Zephyr UTV alongside co-driver Pedro Bianchi Prata. He finished fourth in the SSV class in an event relocated to Saudi Arabia.
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