Australian duo take big step to secure the APRC title
The Star , 13-10-2008

PETALING JAYA: Australians Cody Crocker and Ben Atkinson took a big step to securing the Asia Pacific Rally Championships (APRC) overall title when they won the Ancom Malaysian Rally in Johor Baru yesterday.

Six stages more were held yesterday and the Motor Image Rally Team duo came out tops in 2’55:24 to finish more than three minutes ahead of Cusco Racing’s Hiroshi Yanagisawa-Yoshimasa Nakahara of Japan in the sixth leg of APRC.

Crocker was the overnight leader but took no chances in his Subaru Impreza WRX in the slippery stages.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself to finish the race without making mistakes, which is not so easy to do in such a tough event.

“But we are very happy and I couldn’t have wished for a better result,” said Crocker, whose team is based in Singapore.

Main rival Katsu Taguchi led Crocker by six points going into the sixth leg of the APRC.

But the Japanese failed to finish Saturday’s races after skidding off the track and lost his lead in the championships to Crocker.

He will not be competing in the final round in China next month and it paves the way for Crocker to win the overall title.

New Zealand’s Mark Tapper secured the coveted Pirelli Star Driver competition in 3’02:57, which also earned him a drive in the World Championships (WRC) next year.

It was game over for the Indian-Malaysian partnership of Gaurav Gill-Jagdev Singh yesterday after they failed to appear on the starting line because of a damaged engine on Saturday. No engine change is allowed in the championships.

Karamjit Singh went on to win the fifth leg of the Malaysian Rally Championships despite an engine oil leak in the first three stages yesterday.

Karamjit had confirmed his 10th national title after finishing overall fastest from the first eight stages on Saturday.