Perodua wins first round of MRC
Motr Trader, 8/4/2008

The Perodua M5 Racing Team recently finished as victors in the opening round of the Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) which was held in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan. More impressively, three of the team's entries finished in the top five positions.

Driver Lim Leong Onn with co-driver Kamarul Anuar Mohd Razzali finished first in their Viva, with Kan Chee Hong/Bernard Chin third and P. Nandakumar/Parkash Sharma fourth, both crews competing in the bigger Myvi.

The winning team's Viva (which had 4WD and a turbocharged engine) performed impressively with veteran driver Lim at the wheel and and stayed 5 minutes clear of the strong challenge from reigning champ, Karamjit Singh. Lim's co-driver said they were able to find their pace as early as third Special Stage (SS) after getting the perfect suspension setting.

"From then on, we charged hard and kept our focus and the two days went by trouble-free until the last two SS when the car began losing stability. We worked it very hard so something must have worn out or loosened underneath but it was good enough to keep us in front," he said.

Team Manager Gary Chua, a former rally driver himself, was delighted with the result saying it was the best result so far. "Usually we are happy to have two cars finishing but this time all three are in the top five. It was a combination of factors that helped us win. Firstly, the cars ran well; secondly, the team worked like clockwork and no less important was the weather which gave us the perfect track, not too wet and not too dry," Chua said.

Third-place man Kan Chee Hong, another veteran, had a difficult rally as he had to endure poor communications with his co-driver due to a failed intercom. Fortunately, the pair have been together for numerous rallies and could still exchange messages somehow. After the intercom was fixed, the 4WD Myvi Turbo developed gearbox problems which saw him driving two SS stuck in second gear. The mechanics quickly found the problem and sorted it out but that was not the end of their troubles.

During the second day, the exhaust system got damaged and this restricted turbo boost, preventing their attempts to reduce the gap with the Karamjit Singh. By the final SS, Kan was just 3 minutes behind the Flying Sikh and 6 minutes ahead of Nandakumar.

It's sad that Karamajit Singh, who put Proton's name on the rally scene, is unsupported by the manufacturer today and has to even rent a rallycar to participate

Karamjit, the well-known rally ace of Malaysia, was driving a rented Proton Satria 1.6 without 4WD which had neither the power nor the traction to finish anywhere near the podium but he still showed his skills as he drove the 'tired' car like a top flight fighting machine. At the end of day two Karamjit revealed the extent of his problems with the car and it was a wonder that he even ended in the top five.

"Apart from the fact that the car was much slower than the other top runners, we also had to face so many mechanical problems. The brakes were spongy, then the steering rack bracket broke giving a lot of freeplay and in the last two stages, the clutch pedal actually broke!" Karamjit said.

"I am grateful for the fantastic work done by my mechanics who prepared the car in less than two days and kept it running despite the many problems. Anyway, our goal for the weekend was to end up in the top 5 - finishing second was a fantastic bonus for me and the team," he added.

The first round of six for the 2008 season claimed only 7 cars out of the 20 starters, a relatively low rate of attrition considering the stages inside the palm and rubber plantations were bumpy and slippery.

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