A One-Hour programme featuring the 2009 Malaysian Rally will air on ESPN STAR Sports in the lead up to the Singapore F1 Grand Prix.

This special episode not only covers the 2009 event, but takes a look back - 15 years back and the 1994 Rally of Malaysia. Unbelievably not much has changed except for the names of the drivers and the cars are now Group N, rather than Group A. Australian Ross Dunkerston, Swede Kenneth Eriksson and kiwi Possum Bourne were the 'stars' in those in those days, battling it out in the Rubber Plantations.

The programme also previews the new Proton S2000 with an extended interview with MEM's Chris Mellors.

For latest information local TV guides at www.espnstar.com.

CROCKER WINS MR9

16th August, Kota Tinggi – Cody Crocker of the Motor Image Racing team won the FIA ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP (APRC) ANCOM Malaysian Rally 2009 (MR9) in 3hr 16min 22sec (provisional result) driving his Subaru Impreza WRX.

Crocker started Leg Two with a comfortable lead over team mate Emma Gilmour of New Zealand, who finished second in 3hr 27min 11sec making it 1,2 for Motor Image on the podium.

In third was Indonesian driver, Rifat Sungkar of the Pertamina Prima XP Rally Team who finished 14min 18sec behind Gilmour.

Katsu Taguchi of the MRF Tyres team bowed out of the race early in the day when he ditched his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 in SS11 causing major structural damage and ending his chances of securing important Championship points.

With Taguchi out, Crocker cruised to a comfortable victory and scored maximum points which positions him strongly to take out the 2009 Championship. Crocker won the APRC the past three years.

“I am very happy just to have finished the race today. The SS were very demanding. We took the stages one at a time, kept our heads down and did the job. We kept to a pace that meant we didn’t allow any mistakes to creep in,” Crocker said.

India’s Gaurav Gill, Taguchi’s MRF Tyres team mate, who didn’t finish Leg One yesterday due to mechanical problems, pushed his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 very hard today clocking the fastest times in four SS. Some say Gill could be the man to beat when the APRC is held in Indonesia in October. Gill won the Gudang Garam Indonesian Rally in 2008.

“I’ve wanted to push hard since I arrived in Malaysia,” Gill said. Earlier in the day I missed a few junctions and in SS10 I had brake problems, but once we changed our setup we managed to win a lot of Stages,” Gaurav said.

Malaysia’s Karamjit Singh had a better day in his Proton Satria Neo S2000 as he clocked more kilometers and got more comfortable with the car. “Today was good because we got to practice Slowly slowly we are getting faster, so hopefully by next Rally (Indonesia) the car will be right-hand drive and we’ll be much faster,” Karamjit said.