THE BATTLE IS ON IN JOHOR!
10/10/2008

October 10th, 2008, Johor Bahru – Asia Pacific Rally Championship drivers Cody Crocker and Katsu Taguchi will battle it out in the palm-oil plantations of Johor this weekend as they both vie for maximum points towards taking the Championship title.

Australian Cody Crocker, only six points behind Japanese driver Taguchi said he is looking forward to a strong finish in the Ancom Malaysian Rally 2008 (MR8) and hopes Johor will be his race.

“Hopefully this will be our weekend. If we can do well now and in China we can get enough points to take the lead. This is Taguchi’s last race for the year, so, all things going well, we will finish strongly,” said Crocker.

The seventh and last round of the APRC will be in China in November. Competitors only score points from their six nominated events.

Taguchi has been on the podium in every event except the Rally of Canberra in Australia. Crocker won that event and the New Zealand round but struggled in Indonesia and Japan.

There is also a tough fight for third position. CUSCO's Herridge who is currently third is not competing this round which gives his team-mate Hiroshi Yanagisawa a chance to take his spot. Just five points behind him is Indonesian Rifat Sungkar, Kiwi Brian Green and Gaurav Gill from India.

Nineteen (19) cars will start what is tipped to be the most exciting APRC Round this year. Ten (10) of the APRC competitors are young men and women participating in the FIA’s Pirelli Star Driver competition, the winner gets the chance of a life time to drive in the 2009 Production World Rally Championship. The whole world is watching the MR8 to find out who will be the young driver to take away this amazing prize.

Malaysia’s hopes are on twenty year-old James Russell of SR Motorsport, the only local driver to compete in the Pirelli Star Competition. His local experience may give him an advantage over the international Pirelli Star drivers, most of whom have never driven on Malaysian soil.

Jagdev Singh, a local rally veteran will co-drive for Gaurav Gill and hopes his local knowledge will help Gill to finish as strongly as possible. Indian driver Arjun Rao is another hopeful. Rao competed in the last two rounds of the local championship this year to get a competitive advantage.

Five New Zealanders including strong favourites twenty-one year-old Hayden Paddon and fellow countryman, Brad Ayling, twenty-six years have entered the Pirelli Star Driver competition. Indonesian Rizal Sungkar who is the brother of APRC driver Rizal Sungkar and Eli Evans of Australia make up the ten.

All competitors have completed their recce of the stages which were wet and slippery following days of heavy rain. Taguchi had a scare when he turned turtle but his MRF Tyres Rally Team has managed to fix the minimal damage his car incurred.

The sun is shining today, so the stages should be drier for the race which begins Saturday morning. The official flag off will be by Tengku Mahkota Johor, Tunku Ibrahim Ismail at 9pm at the rally headquarters at the Zon Hotel tonight (Friday).

Clerk of the Course for the MR8, Tengku Shaharin Abu Bakar Almarhum Tengku Suleiman said he is delighted to host the APRC for the fourth year in a row. “We have a very experienced team of local and international stewards and officials on the ground and expect everything to go smoothly and safely. With a total of forty-five (45) cars including the drivers in the local Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC), we expect a weekend of thrilling Motorsports action.”

The current leader of the MRC is Team GSR Pennzoil’s Karamjit Singh. Karamjit only needs two points to secure the Overall championship title for the year ahead of Perodua M5 Racing Team’s Lim Leong Onn. Karamjit is suffering from a slipped disk in his back but is still confident he can finish the race in first place.

“I only need two points to win and there is still another MRC round after this. Although I won’t be comfortable driving because of my back injury, I will still compete as the MR8 is the biggest and most exciting round of the year,” Karamjit said.

Karamjit’s teammate and manager, Gunaseelan Rajoo will battle it out with Lim for second place Overall.

All rally competitors will complete fourteen Stages totaling 226.74 kilometres over the weekend. The MR8 is supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia and Kerajaan Negeri Johor Darul Ta'zim. It is organized by the Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) and Kelab Sukan Motor Perlis. The MR8 title sponsor is Ancom Berhad and it is co-sponsored by Johor Tourism, Felda, Proton, Silverstone and Astro.

Rally Carnival for the Public at the Zon Hotel

The Zon Hotel will be a hive of activity this weekend with a FREE rally family mini-carnival in the Atrium of the Zon Hotel. Local artists will perform across the weekend and there will be colouring and hoola-hoop competitions for the young ones, rally-prepared cars on display and driving simulation games.

The Proton Autokhana competition will be held over the weekend for the public to test their driving skills against the clock. Only RM10 per entry, the fastest times will take home great prizes.

The public is invited to come and check out the Auto Show which will be held on Saturday 11th October. Prizes will be given for the “Best Dressed” and “Best Modified” cars.