PRESS
RELEASE
KARAMJIT
TAKES DAY ONE
5 December 2009, Bukit Merah, Perak: Karamjit
Singh was the fastest in Leg One of the final round of the Malaysian
Rally Championship 2009 here today. Karamjit leads his rival, Saladin
Mazlan, by 30.3 seconds.
Karamjit had to win one of the two Legs of
this rally and must finish first or second tomorrow to have enough
points to remain as the Overall Champion for the 2009 Season.
“I am happy I won today. I will see
how the car shapes up in the first three SS tomorrow and then decide
whether I will push to try to finish first. The third SS is very
rough and is doing a lot of damage to our car, so it depends on
how the car holds out,” Karamjit said.
Saladin pushed his Proton Gen2 hard all day
to try to beat Karamjit to snatch the title and claim victory for
the Felda Rally Team. His brakes kept overheating, forcing him to
drive cautiously in many of the Special Stages (SS) and lose time.
“I am disappointed we didn’t win
today,” said Saladin. “I would have liked to be closer
(in time).”
Karamjit is the lead driver for the GSR Pennzoil
Racing Team. His teammate and Manager, Gunaseelan Rajoo finished
third today. “We have won the Team trophy and it looks like
Karam will be Overall Champion for 2009, so I am happy.” said
Guna. “But I am only 5 seconds in front of Rozali Abdullah
so we’ll be going flat out tomorrow to make sure we finish
third overall.”
Rozali, has his sights on third place too.
“Today we are 5 seconds behind so tomorrow we want to be 5
seconds in front of Guna!” he said.
Faidzal Alang and Hong Kong driver Clayton
Check are also in a battle for the 2WD category trophy for the 2009
Season. Faidzal finished the day 25 seconds in front of Check. Faidzal
went into this race with the P10 and Junior categories in the bag,
but taking home the 2WD trophy would be a sweet end to an amazing
season for the newcomer.
27 cars were flagged off this morning.
16 finished Leg One. The competitors must complete 12 Stages in
the fastest time over two days to score points towards the Championship.
The stages are Ladang Segar (20.02km), Foong Lee (4.86km) and Halifax
(3.25km).
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