Rally driver Kajetan give tips on how to succeed in sports

Motivation is everything in elite-level sport. Without the will and desire to achieve, there’s a next-to-no chance of success.

For drivers in the World Rally Championship, the ultimate goal is to become World Rally Champions. That’s all that consumes their being. Every single thing they do at the rallies, and even away from the rallies, is done in pursuit of that ultimate realization.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz has probably accepted that this won’t be him. At 43 years old and without a top-line start to his name, he’s not got teams queuing around the block to sign him.

That’s not to say he’s a bad driver. In fact, Kajetanowicz can be extremely proud of his lot – four Polish national titles and three consecutive European Rally Championships don’t exactly represent a bad CV.

He also of course now leads WRC2 ahead of ex-factory and World Rally winners.

But what Kajetanowicz had never done was compete in Africa on the legendary Safari Rally Kenya.

What he wanted to do more than anything this season was take this event on, and win it.

Who wouldn’t? But for Kajetanowicz there was extra motivation to finish the job his Polish compatriot had started last year.  The 91-year-old Sobiesław Zasadaw broke the record for being the oldest driver to compete in the WRC on last year’s Safari behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Rally3.

Cruelly, Zasada retired from the rally with suspension damage on the very last stage. So after this heartbreak, Kajetanowicz made him a promise: to finish the Safari Rally for him.

“This victory is for my family, our supporters and Sobiesław Zasada,” said Kajetanowicz.

“I am glad to be able to say: Mr Sobiesław, I kept my word, mission accomplished!”

With South Africa excluded because of apartheid, Zimbabwe made appearances at the first two editions of the World Cup in 1987 and 1991 as Africa’s sole representatives.

Stand-out players back then included flanker Dawson, prop Adrian Garvey and centre Richard Tsimba, the first black national team player, who died in 2000.

However, the bigger picture is a decline in the quality of the team over the years, with some top players changing allegiance, most notably Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira and Tonderai Chavhanga, who both switched to South Africa, and David Pocock, who played for Australia.

The South African system has also taken some Zimbabweans who have impressed at school level.

Dawson’s squad selection for the Rugby Africa Cup is a mixture of home-based and foreign-based players, some who feature for small clubs, but one major blow was the withdrawal of Brandon Mudzekenyedzi, who plays for Waikato in New Zealand.

Takudzwa Musingwini and Brendon Marume, two players who helped Zimbabwe qualify for the World Rugby Under-20 Trophy, are in the squad while full-back Tapiwa Mafura of South African side Pumas will be another key player in a side captained by Hilton Mudariki.