12th April, Cyberjaya – Mike Ariokiasamy Ratnam and his co-driver Wayne Cheah finished first in Round One of the 2009 Malaysian Rally Championship, taking home the trophies for the P11 and 2WD Categories.

“This is the first time we are on the podium as number one,” said Mike. “We almost didn’t finish the last Special Stage (SS) because our radiator was full of mud and our engine started giving us problems in the last two hundred metres.” Mike’s total time was 54 minutes 15 seconds.

Jamaluddin Tukimin and his sister and co-driver Rozita finished just five seconds behind Mike also taking home the P9 Category trophy.

Amir Ahmad and co-driver Azhan Arshad finished third with a total time of 55 minutes and 43 seconds.

In fourth place were Muhammad Rafiq Udhaya and co-driver Sean F Gregory with a total time of 56 minutes and 44 seconds. They took home the P10 and Showroom category trophies.

It was only in the final SS that Mike Ari secured the lead. Indian driver Arjun Rao had been leading but failed to finish the SS due to a busted oil cooler which caused his Mitsubishi Lancer’s engine to seize.

Arjun Rao had been quietly confident that he was cruising to a victory having clocked the second fastest times for every SS today behind Karamjit Singh of the GSR Pennzoil Racing Team.

Karamjit was the fastest in every stage of the Rally but because he had been slapped with a fifteen minute penalty yesterday, he started this morning in 19th place making it almost impossible for him to make up the difference.
Karamjit’s speed put him in ninth place overall at the end of the day and second in the 4WD category. Kairol Ashraf Abd. Rahim won the 4WD Category and came second in the P11 Category.

In the P12 Category Karam finished second behind Steve Hee Yep Heng and co-driver Christy Goh Siau Hoon who were also entered in the Junior Category.

Overnight leader Saladin Mazlan of the Felda Rally Team only managed to complete two SS today. His starter motor packed it in before the start of the third SS. Despite the setback Saladin was all smiles. “This is a good start to the season for us,” he said. “We didn’t have time to test the car before the race and yet we managed to run very close to Karam’s times yesterday.”

Another surprise was the performance of newcomers Faidzal Alang and co-driver Hazwan Fauzi. The champions of the Rally reality TV show “Malaysia’s Next Rally Champion, Zero.2.Hero” finished fifth overall in their very first official rally clocking a time of 58 minutes and 1 second. They finished first in the Junior category and second in the P10 category.

Of the twenty-six competitors that started the rally this morning, nine didn’t finish.

Full results can be downloaded from www.malaysianrally.com