Harare — ZIMBABWEAN rally hotshot Conrad Rautenbach - who is based in England - has been confirmed as a Citroën Junior Team driver for the 2009 season which gets underway at the end of this month.

The 24-year-old former FIA African Rally champion will drive a Citroën C4 WRC on all 12 rounds of this year's FIA World Rally Championships, starting with Rally Ireland on January 29.

This season will be Rautenbach's second full World Rally Championship campaign following a rather fair debut last year.

He was also with Citroën Sport Technologies.

According to reports from France, Rautenbach, who turned professional last year, feels he will do better this year basing on the way he performed in his debut season.

"It's fantastic news for me. As the 2008 season progressed, I really felt everything gel with the team. I got to know Citroën Sport Technologies, my engineer, everybody really well -- and, of course, I got to know the Citroën C4 WRC really well too. Now I have the chance to build on the solid foundations we laid last year and that is the objective for 2009," Rautenbach said.

The Zimbabwean, who is co-driven by British David Senior, will be joined in the team by reigning FIA Junior World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier and Russian driver Evgeny Novikov.

Former Subaru World Rally Team driver Chris Atkinson will also join them in Ireland for round one.

Rautenbach admitted the chance to work with fellow rising stars of the rally world is another exciting prospect for the year to come.

"It's going to be great to be working alongside those guys.

"Believe me, the start of the season can't come soon enough!".

The Citroen sport team is also happy to work with the enthusiastic Rautenbach.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be able to confirm the Citroën Junior Team as an M2 entry in the 2009 World Rally Championship.

"As required by the regulations, the Citroën Junior Team will contest in at least eight events in order to qualify for manufacturers' points. Conrad Rautenbach, Evgeny Novikov and Sébastien Ogier will form the mainstay of the line-up, while Chris Atkinson is due to take part in the first round of the New Year, the Rally Ireland, in a Citroën C4 WRC," said Citroën Sport director Olivier Quesnel.

"It is no coincidence that we have chosen to employ the word 'Junior' in the team's official name. It is an M2 team, which will predominantly run drivers who are currently learning the sport, and their average age will be 22.

"Our aims are to develop the commercial side which we began in 2008 and also enable our crews to benefit from our expertise.

"The programme will allow them to gain valuable extra experience which will put them in good stead for the next step of their career," said Citroën Sport Technologies manager Benoît Nogier.