PRESS RELEASE

KARAMJIT FIGHTS TO HOLD MRC TITLE

4th December, 2009, Bukit Merah, PERAK - Karamjit Singh, ten-time consecutive winner of the Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) has to win both Legs of this weekend’s rally to retain his Overall Champion title for the 2009 MRC season. If he fails, the Felda Rally Team’s Saladin Mazlan could steal the title from him by just ½ a point.

Karamjit, who is the lead driver for the GSR Pennzoil Racing Team, sits on 33.5 points, only 3.5 points ahead of Saladin. Saladin beat Karamjit in the previous Round, and, on paper, has a faster, stronger car.

Gunaseelan Rajoo, Karamjit’s Pennzoil teammate sits in second in between Karamjit and Saladin on 31 points.

Competitors can score a maximum of 16 points for first overall, 12 points for second and 8 points for third.

Guna, shared his Team’s race strategy. “We have to keep Saladin from finishing in the top two. Karam will be going flat out because he is out to win and I will back him up. I’ll be happy to finish second,” he said. “I’ll push first and see how Leg One ends. If I’m within striking distance of Saladin then I’ll keep my pace,” Guna added.

The weather will also play an important role in the battle for first. Guna explained: “If it’s wet, we should be OK. But if it’s dry, there’s no way I can match Saladin’s speed. One SS (special stage) is particularly long (20.02km) with lots of straights so Saladin will be very fast. But we can try to make up time in the shorter, trickier stages.”

Clerk of the Course, Tengku Shaharin Abu Bakar Almarhum Tengku Suleiman, said rain is expected becasue the SS are located east of Taiping which is technically the wettest area in Malaysia.“It rained during the week but was dry yesterday (Friday) when the drivers were doing their reconnaissance. The short stages will be badly affected if we have a lot of rain,“ he said.

“Ladang Segar will be the most interesting Stage for spectators because of the long straight stretches. I encourage spectators to go there to watch because the straights are visible from the roadside and that’s where the drivers get up the most speed,” Tengku Shaharin added.

27 cars have entered the race and will compete to finish 12 Stages in the fastest time over two days. The total distance across the Stages is 112.52km. There are three Stages which will be repeated four times. They are Ladang Segar (20.02km), Foong Lee (4.86km) and Halifax (3.25km).

The official flag-off will be held Saturday 5th December at 10am at Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. The 2009 Champions will be crowned at 5pm Sunday afternoon at the same venue. Members of the public are welcome!