Publicat in: August 16, 2009, Vizualizari: 38
Australian driver Cody Crocker is five points away from his fourth successive FIA Asia Pacific title after winning the Malaysian Rally by a ten minute margin from Subaru teammate Emma Gilmour. Third and final APRC qualifier to finish was Indonesian driver Rifat Sungkar in a Mitsubishi Evo 8 after early overheating troubles. Crocker’s closest championship rival Katsu Taguchi firstly hit a tree, then subsequently crashed his old Mitsu Evo 9 into an earth bank on the first day and was unable to continue. Taguchi’s Mitsubishi teammate Indian driver Gaurav Gill (Evo X) stopped on day 1 after he suffered two punctures. The rally started dramatically when Crocker was accidentally shown a yellow flag on the 24km first stage and eased his pace, surprised to find himself being passed on the stage by other drivers who continued at full speed. As compensation event stewards awarded him an interruption time of 1m20s faster than the next driver!
Once again this traditionally controversial rally was held in torrid conditions (nearly 40 degrees and with high humidity levels) but despite overnight rain was run in dry conditions. There were pre rally dramas. Emma Gilmour needed a new codriver after Rhianon Smyth was injured in a rally accident in Australia and Claire Mole came from England as a replacement, while APRC contender Brian Green non started because his locally rented Mitsubishi had been confiscated by customs after a recent rally in Thailand. This event saw the APRC debut of the Proton Satria Neo S2000, originally to be rallied by Alister McRae. At short notice Proton authorities required the Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh, the original FIA Production Car World Champion to drive instead. Singh, competing in the subsidiary Asia Cup division of the event, had never rallied a left hand drive car before and had many problems. He went off the road on day 1, having already had difficulties with the engine management controls, but restarted on day 2 for promotional reasons. Two APRC rounds remain, in Indonesia and finally China.
At the end of Malaysian Rally it seemed six finalists are to appear at Rally Australia for the Pirelli Star Driver Shoot-Out to determine which driver from the region will drive the Asia Pacific car in the selected 2010 world championship - and four of them are Australian! They are the Brendan Reeves, still recovering from his South Australian rally accident but who has vowed to the present, Eli Evans,. New Zealander Hayden Paddon, Chinese driver Chaou Dong Liu and two wild card entries, Nathan Quinn and Glen Raymond. APRC coordinator Murray Brown said "unfortunately we had hoped to have two more drivers but the representatives who earned their places on the Shoot-Out at Hokkaido Rally and the Malaysian Rally have both announced that the cost of running a car in Australia is prohibitive".
3mmm
photo 1: Cody Crocker at start
photo 2: Emma Gilmour - Subaru
Australian driver Cody Crocker is five points away from his fourth successive FIA Asia Pacific title after winning the Malaysian Rally by a ten minute margin from Subaru teammate Emma Gilmour. Third and final APRC qualifier to finish was Indonesian driver Rifat Sungkar in a Mitsubishi Evo 8 after early overheating troubles. Crocker’s closest championship rival Katsu Taguchi firstly hit a tree, then subsequently crashed his old Mitsu Evo 9 into an earth bank on the first day and was unable to continue. Taguchi’s Mitsubishi teammate Indian driver Gaurav Gill (Evo X) stopped on day 1 after he suffered two punctures. The rally started dramatically when Crocker was accidentally shown a yellow flag on the 24km first stage and eased his pace, surprised to find himself being passed on the stage by other drivers who continued at full speed. As compensation event stewards awarded him an interruption time of 1m20s faster than the next driver! Once again this traditionally controversial rally was held in torrid conditions (nearly 40 degrees and with high humidity levels) but despite overnight rain was run in dry conditions. There were pre rally dramas. Emma Gilmour needed a new codriver after Rhianon Smyth was injured in a rally accident in Australia and Claire Mole came from England as a replacement, while APRC contender Brian Green non started because his locally rented Mitsubishi had been confiscated by customs after a recent rally in Thailand. This event saw the APRC debut of the Proton Satria Neo S2000, originally to be rallied by Alister McRae. At short notice Proton authorities required the Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh, the original FIA Production Car World Champion to drive instead. Singh, competing in the subsidiary Asia Cup division of the event, had never rallied a left hand drive car before and had many problems. He went off the road on day 1, having already had difficulties with the engine management controls, but restarted on day 2 for promotional reasons. Two APRC rounds remain, in Indonesia and finally China.
At the end of Malaysian Rally it seemed six finalists are to appear at Rally Australia for the Pirelli Star Driver Shoot-Out to determine which driver from the region will drive the Asia Pacific car in the selected 2010 world championship - and four of them are Australian! They are the Brendan Reeves, still recovering from his South Australian rally accident but who has vowed to the present, Eli Evans,. New Zealander Hayden Paddon, Chinese driver Chaou Dong Liu and two wild card entries, Nathan Quinn and Glen Raymond. APRC coordinator Murray Brown said "unfortunately we had hoped to have two more drivers but the representatives who earned their places on the Shoot-Out at Hokkaido Rally and the Malaysian Rally have both announced that the cost of running a car in Australia is prohibitive".
3mmm
photo 1: Cody Crocker at start
photo 2: Emma Gilmour - Subaru
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