KARAMJIT SWAPS CO-DRIVER FOR ROUND 4 MRC

31 July 2008, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s reigning rally champion, Karamjit Singh has swapped co-drivers for the fourth round of the Malaysian Rally Championship 2008 to be held in Desaru, Johor this weekend.

Musa Sherif from India is tasked with navigating for the champ whilst Karamjit’s usual co-driver Jagdev Singh will now navigate for Musa’s Indian team mate and driver, Arjun Rao.

The Indian team is competing in the MRC to gain valuable experience ahead of the Malaysian Leg of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) to be held in Johor Baru in October.

“By swapping partners Jagdev and I are able to give the Indian team the benefit of our local knowledge,” said Karamjit. “Malaysia’s Stages (tracks) are very different from those in India. We have spent this week practicing and I am confident that together we can do well this round and continue to chalk up points overall and for the GSR Pennzoil Team.”

The teams will be competing against each other in the P12 category with Karamjit and Musa in the Mitsubishi Evo 8 and Jagdev and Arjun in a Proton Putra 4WD.

This is Musa’s third time competing outside India. A veteran navigator, he was crowned Overall Co-driver Champion at the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) in 2007. He has long been Gaurav Gill’s co-driver in the MRF Team and competed in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) in Johor Bahru last year.

Arjun who was the INRC overall runner up last year, drove in round three of the MRC in Kuantan last month but flipped his rented Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI when he lost control on the fast and tricky loose dirt track of Fedla Lepar Hilir.

21 cars will start the course this weekend but the all-girl team of Kancana Nanda Kumar and co-driver Dzainurhayati Mohd Daud will be absent as their car Proton Satria has not yet been repaired following their crash in round three in Kuantan.

Also missing are James Russell and Douglas Pickering of SR Motorsport.

Of note is the inclusion of P. Nandakumar and Suresh Parkash Sharma in the GSR Pennzoil Team for this round. They hope to finish strong in the P11 category in their Proton Satria, adding to the Team’s points tally.

Further down the field the Clubman category will see a battle between three different winners from the last three rounds. All eyes will be on Kuantan superstar, Abdul Ghaffar in his pink and black Proton Satria. 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.

The ceremonial start will be on Friday 1st August at Bandar Penawar and will be officiated by the Tourism Minister, Dato’ Seri Azalina Othman Said. Leg One will start from the Desaru Golden Beach Hotel at 11am on Saturday 2nd August.

Organisers say the current hot and dusty conditions should see some spectacular rally action.

Round 4 will feature a total of 12 Special Stages covering a distance of 142.26 kilometers.

In conjunction with the rally, the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) will hold an Autokhana competition for the public at Bandar Penawar. For a RM10 entry fee participants can test their driving skills against the clock for the chance to take home great prizes. A Proton car is provided.

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