CLASH OF THE TITANS
10th August 2007

Four former Asia Pacific Rally Championships (APRC) champions are all set to cook up a storm this weekend (10-12 August) at Round Five of the FIA APRC/ANCOM Malaysian Rally (mr7) which will be held at Felda Bandar Tenggara, Johor.

The four are 2006 APRC and MR6 winner, Cody Crocker; 2005 Production World Rally (P-WRC) winner, Toshihiro Arai; three times Malaysian APRC and First time Asian P-WRC winner Karamjit Singh, and 2005 FIA APRC winner Jussi Valimaki.

Title chaser Crocker who returns to Malaysia in the MotorImage Rally Team is currently dominating the Championship by 48 points, 14 points ahead of close rival Katsuhiko Taguchi of MRF Tyre Rally Team. Crocker will be joined by team mate, current P-WRC leader, Arai and Rifat Sungkar. Competing in Group N4, all three drivers will be driving Subaru Impreza WRX.

Madam Ria Sungkar, Rifat Sungkar’s mother and manager said the signing up of her son with MotorImage Rally Team not only manage to boost his spirit and morale but proved that all of his hard work and effort for eight years competing in national and international rallying scene paid off. “It has been his dream to drive for a big Team at International scene. We’re happy that his skills are recognized by established teams and players,” said Ria. “Although he’s sad that he cannot compete with and against his brother, Rizal, who was last year’s Malaysian Rally Championship winner, Rifat promised to give his best as he wants to win some point for him and the team,” she said.

Out to give Rifat, Crocker and Arai a run for their money are MRF Tyre Rally Team and Karamjit, as well as 2005 Malaysian Rally Championship (mr5) champion, Brian Green. These seasoned drivers are not only familiar with Malaysian treacherous roads and unpredictable weather but also want to settle a few scores. Karamjit who will be the sole Malaysian flag carrier in the APRC realizes that he will have a tough job ahead of him. With new sponsor, Aldwich Berhad and co-sponsor Safeguard Securico backing his team, Karamjit Motorsports, Karamjit hopes that they would be able to score a point or two.

“With good and experience drivers, we foresee that we would be able to finish and score points for the team although we expect to get stiff competition from the local and International Rally Teams,” he said.

Meanwhile, Round 3 of the Felda AAM Malaysian Rally Championship 2007 (FAMRC) will see a close and stiff competition between arch-rivals Rozali Abdullah of Karamjit Motorsports and Lim Leong Onn of Perodua M5 Team. Both Rozali and Lim are tied with 12 points. Lim’s team mate, Kan Chee Hong, trails behind with 11 points.

In this round, Lim will be competing in Group P9 and will be steering the new Perodua Viva. Lim’s navigator, Kamarul Anuar Razali said that although the car was recently built to compete in this Rally, he is confident that they’ll be able to outrun some of their competitors.

“We have yet to really test it on the Rally route but we are confident that the car would not let us down. All I can say is, don’t underestimate its potential. “Kecil-kecil Cili Api” (Small but fiery just like the Cili Api),” said Kamarul who hopes that they’ll be able to finish and win the Rally to score points and win the Overall in Group P9.

Privateer, Sutan Mustaffa Salihin is another happy competitor for this Round. He and navigator Ahmad Nadzrie Shuhaimie not only manage to secure sponsorship from Teratak Murni Sdn Bhd and Terengganu Safety Training Centre for this round but the two sponsors have already agreed to sponsor them until the season ends.

“We are competing for Group P10 in a Proton Satria. Our car is prepared by Yard Speedwork and hopefully, with more sponsorship coming, next year, we will compete in Subaru WRX 4WD,” said Sutan who also revealed that he will be developing a new team to compete in his Team, Sutan Mustaffa Motorsports (SMS Motorsports) Team next year.

Round five of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship which is also Felda AAM Malaysian Rally Championship 2007 Round 3 will be officiated by the Sultan of Johor in Danga Bay, today at 9pm.

Thirty cars will be competing in this year’s Rally which will be held at Felda Bandar Tenggara’s palm oil plantation roads. The participants will be competing in Two Legs (Leg 1 and Leg 2) with a total distance of 664.44km. The first car will be flagged-off at Special Stage 1 (SS1) at Penggeli Factory at 9am on Saturday, 11 August for the First Leg of the Rally and ends at 4.30pm at Pasir Raja (SS8).

For the Second Leg, the first car will be flagged-off at 8am at Inas Utara (SS9) on Sunday, 12 August. The Second Leg ends at 11.30am at Inas Utara 2 (SS14). Ceremonial finish will be held at Danga Bay at 2.50pm.

APRC Round 5/mr7 is organized by Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) and promoted by Wheel Sport Management Sdn Bhd (WSM). The event is sponsored by ANCOM Berhad and sanctioned by Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM).

< Back