Crocker wins China Rally
Subaru Australian driver Cody Crocker won a cold and sometimes wet China Rally, final round of the APRC, based at Longyou. This well supported event which was run over very slow stages also counted for the Chinese championship. This category was won provisionally by British Mitsubishi driver David Higgins who was second overall but on going to press a protest concerning irregular servicing was being considered. Crocker was already 2009 APRC champion but now also annexed the Asia Cup. After running fourth on the first day in which Alister McRae’s Proton ran faultlessly, McRae withdrew after an unexpected suspension arm problem at service. He looks certain to be back in the championship with Proton next year. Regular APRC drivers Gaurav Gill, Hiroshi Yanagisawa and Brian Green all retired with engine problems, Katsu Taguchi with broken front suspension. Last year winner Jarkko Miettinen didn’t start the event.


Other news
A new official headquarters for the Swedish Rally is the Stadshotel in Karlstad but the stages will all be far way. The central service park will be at Hagfors, 80km north of Karlstad, with all the stages run at a similar latitude or further north, in the hope for wintry conditions.

The 2010 Rally of Turkey will be based near Istanbul and use many of the stages held on recent European Rally Championship and IRC Istanbul Rally events, which have been centred at Pendik.

Nic Gullino, rally manager for Abarth, has left the company. Gabriele Palmitesta is the caretaker manager while future plans are being formulated.

Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica retired when he crashed on the Taormina-Messina Rally in Sicily, his first venture into orthodox rallying. He damaged the front right suspension of his Renault Clio R3. He had been top placed Group R driver. His fellow Pole Michal Kosciuszko, the former JWRC driver, retired his Fabia S2000 because of illness. Overall winner was Felice Re in a Citroen Xsara WRC.

Former PCWRC regular Fumio Nutahara won the final round of the All-Japan rally championship (the Yoshinosato Mountain Rally) in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and clinched the top national title. Of the five categories in the series, Mitsubishi drivers won three and Honda the other two.

Norwegian motorsport fans have a special event next Saturday at the Telenor Arena, at the old Fornebu airport in Oslo, to witness the Solberg Extreme Motor Show.

3mmm