SEVEN CARS OUT AT END OF LEG ONE OF MALAYSIAN RALLY

Kangar, 24 May, 2008 – Seven of the eighteen cars that started the second Round of the Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) in Perlis did not finish the first Leg of the Rally today including all three cars in the Perodua M5 Racing Team.

Perodua M5 had to call on all its expertise to deal with technical problems on each of its cars very early in the day.

Last Round’s winner, Lim Leong Onn, who was second after SS4, failed to make it to the fifth stage due to mechanical problems.

Team mate Kan Chee Hong, hobbled back to the service park without even completing the first SS, with a faulty fuel pump nearly crippling his Myvi 4WD Turbo.

Kan’s decision to leave in the middle of SS1 and head straight for the service park resulted in a disqualification for not using the prescribed route. He will continue to drive the rest of the weekend but no time will be allocated.

Third Perodua driver, P Nandakumar took up issue with a leaking exhaust system which robbed him of power on the first two stages. His day looked like it was improving until he had more problems in SS6 and couldn’t finish the stage.

Team manager Garry Chua was not a happy man but said the team will do their best tomorrow. “Lim will continue tomorrow so we will do our best to salvage the weekend,” he said.

Team GSR Pennzoil Racing enjoyed instant rewards from their newest team member, reigning Malaysian Rally Champion Karamjit Singh who wasted no time in stamping his authority on the hot and dusty sugar cane fields of Perlis.

The Perlis round of the Malaysian Rally championship is known for its long, high speed straights and spectacular 90-degree turns and Karamjit is the favourite here in his powerful all-wheel drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII.

Brake problems in the opening special stage held him back but that did not stop him from taking the lead in the second special stage and never looked threatened again throughout the day.

“We fixed the brake problem at the first service interval and I knew if we had no more mechanical gremlins, it would be possible for us to end the day at the top of the table,” Karamjit said.

GSR Pennzoil Racing team manager and driver, Gunaseelan Rajoo was clearly pleased with the team’s performance on the first day and is happy to let Karamjit lead the way.

“I am taking it easy and conserving the car so that we can finish near the top. Obviously I would be very happy to have a one-two finish this weekend and with Karamjit flying through the stages it is important that I keep it cool and finish the race behind him if we want to make this a reality,” he said.

By the end of the first day GSR Pennzoil was running a one-two race.

Sutan Mustafa Salihin of R&T Motorsport had a good first day and finished third at the end of the day.

Owner and driver for team MRU Motorsports Muhammad Rafiq Udhaya was confident of his chances this weekend and was keeping his sights on finishing in the top ten.

Roduan Rashid, who won the clubman category in the first Round was hopeful of a repeat performance but it was dashed on SS3 due to a mechanical failure.

Mohd Farof Md Noor (P12) and Asmir Abu Bakar (P11) ran out of luck in SS2, clubman driver Amir Ahmad and Roduwan who were both competing in the P9 category broke down in SS3 while siblings Jamaluddin and Rozita Tukimin found themselves unable to complete SS4.

The competitors were flagged off by The Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail at Dataran Dato’ Sheikh Ahmad in Kangar.

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