Asia Pacific Rally Championship hosted by Malaysia, 4th year running

September 23rd, 2008, Kuala Lumpur - All eyes will be on Malaysia this October 10 – 12 when the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) comes to Johor Bahru for the fourth time in as many years.

Malaysia will host the MR8 - Ancom Malaysian Rally 2008 which is the sixth of seven rounds of the APRC.

Promoted by Wheel Sport Management Sdn Bhd, with title sponsor Ancom Berhad and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the MR8 will see twenty entries from the Asia-Pacific region competing for championship points. The final round will be held in China in early November when the winner will be decided.

Only one Malaysian, rally star co-driver Jagdev Singh, has confirmed he is competing in the MR8. After finishing first in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX in the last round held in Indonesia, Jagdev and driver Gaurav Gill, part of the MRF Tyres Rally Team, expect they have a good chance of making another podium finish in Johor Bahru.

“We definitely have an advantage because I know the Malaysian Stages well,” said Jagdev. “I have been competing in the Malaysian Rally Championship for twenty-two years, so navigating the plantation tracks is second nature to me. With Gaurav’s skill and all going well with the car, a spot on the podium is likely.” Jagdev is also the leading co-driver in the 2008 FIA Asia Cup.

The MR8 doubles as the fifth round of the local Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) which means local rally drivers and co-drivers will compete side-by-side with the international APRC competitors.

Malaysia’s current rally champion, Karamjit Singh of the GSR Pennzoil Team, a three-time winner of the APRC, will be looking to complete the rally without incident to keep his leadership position Overall, in the P12 category and maintain his team’s first place standing.

Karamjit’s GSR Pennzoil teammate and manager, Gunaseelan Rajoo is expected to continue his journey to finishing first place in the A8 category and boosting the team’s overall lead ahead of the Perodua M5 Racing Team.

However, Team Perodua should be in strong contention for more podium finishes with Lim Leong Onn in his Perodua Viva currently second Overall and veteran Kan Chee Hong, driving a Perodua Myvi 4WD turbo making impressive finishes in previous MRC rounds. Hong finished second in round four and leads the P11 category.

The MRC will see approximately 20 teams competing across seven categories.

Adding interest to the APRC is the Pirelli Star Driver competition which seeks to find five young rally drivers from the 2008 and 2009 FIA regional rally championships.

One young driver from the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and two from the European region will be offered the chance to contest identical Group N or Super 2000 cars in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The cars will be supplied and serviced under an FIA contract with a specialist preparation company and competitors must be under the age of twenty-seven on first January in the year of the regional rally championship.

In the Asia-Pacific region the Pirelli Star Driver winner will be decided at the MR8, which makes this APRC round all the more appealing. Nine young drivers will attempt to prove their speed and consistency by being the fastest over the most number of Stages.

They include twenty-one year-old Kiwi rally driver, Hayden Paddon, and fellow countryman, Brad Ayling, twenty-six years. Paddon hopes to win the Pirelli Star Driver title in Johor Bahru but expects a tough race due to the tricky, rough plantation roads and the tropical heat of Malaysia.

Gaurav Gill is also competing in the Pirelli Star Driver competition with Jagdev by his side. “Our main focus is the Pirelli Star actually. To win entry to compete in the WRC is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Jagdev.

All rally competitors will complete fourteen Stages totaling 226.74 kilometres over the weekend. The official flag-off and award ceremony will take place at the Fun Zone, Zon Hotel on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon respectively.

The current leader in the APRC is MRF Tyres Rally Team driver Katsu Taguchi who leads 2006 and 2007 APRC champion, Cody Crocker of the Motor Image Rally Team by six points.

It is thought Taguchi, in his Mitsubishi Lance EVO IX, may have the advantage in Malaysia because of his knowledge of the roads and conditions, having lived and competed here for several years. However, Taguchi is scheduled to miss the last round in China, which means Malaysia will be his last chance to score Championship points.

Crocker, who competes in a Subaru Imprezza WRX also missed the New Caledonia round earlier this year, so his performance in the MR8 could make or break his chance at the title.

Clerk of the Course for the MR8 and Director of Wheel Sport Management, Tengku Shaharin Abu Bakar Almarhum Tengku Suleiman said the Stages within the Felda palm-oil plantations in Johor are hailed by competitors as some of the best and most challenging rally Stages in the world.

“Malaysia’s tropical climate can take its toll on a lot of competitors as they are not used to competing under such conditions. Given the time of year we anticipate rain during the MR8, which means the tracks will be slippery, adding to the challenge,” warned Tengku Shaharin.

Tengku Shaharin added that he was delighted to host the APRC again this year and welcomes all competitors, teams, visitors and media to the event which will be broadcast to a potential television audience of 55.6 million with over 176 broadcasters beaming pictures into 196 countries.

The MR8 – Ancom Malaysian Rally 2008 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.