THE MRC MOVES DOWN SOUTH

21 July 2008 - The next round of the Malaysian Rally Championship Round 4 on 2nd & 3rd August will now be held in the southern state of Johor. The stages previously earmarked for use in Round 4 Paka, Terengganu are in the process of being converted into the second phase of the East Coast Highway which will link Kuantan directly to Kuala Terengganu.

The Rally will be based in the Felda plantations around the seaside resort of Desaru which is just a short hour and a half away from the Changi Ferry Terminal in Singapore.

All rally fans and competitors will be happy to note that the rally stages are similar to those recently rallied in Felda Lepar in Kuantan, Pahang.

The Kuantan round has always been popular with the competitors if not THE most popular rally of the Championship so this time we have chosen similar stages in Johor. In fact in some stretches the roads are better than Felda Lepar? said Clerk of Course, Tengku Shaharin Abu Bakar.

The added bonus of the rally moving to Johor is that it provides the competitors with an opportunity to rally on roads similar to those that will be used for Round 5 which is also the penultimate round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship and the decider round of the Pirelli Star Champion award.

The current hot and dusty conditions should see some spectacular rally action with current Championship leader Karamjit Singh in his Mitsubishi Evo 8 and his GSR Pennzoil team mate Gunaseelan Rajoo trying to fight off the competition from the M5 Perodua Rally team duo of Lim Leong Onn and Kan Chee Hong. The multiple MRC Team Championship winners are currently trailing behind GSR Pennzoil in the Team Championship category and will be keen to close the gap to snatch back the lead.

There is no less excitement further down the field with three different winners from the three rounds so far in the Clubman category. It will be interesting to see if Kuantan Superstar, Abdul Ghaffar in his pink and black Proton Satria, will be able to repeat his feat in Johor. Abdul Ghaffar finished sixth overall in Kuantan with a stellar drive, overhauling most of the field on Day 2 when the other drivers chose to drive conservatively.

Round 4 will feature a total of 12 Special Stages or SS?s with total competitive stage distance of 142.26 kilometers. Ceremonial start will be held on Friday 1st August at Bandar Penawar and Day 1 will start from Desaru Golden Beach Hotel at 11am on Saturday 2nd August.

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