Off Season & Pre Round 4 News Roundup

It has been a long break for Malaysian Rally fans and drivers alike since the last Round in Johor finished on 12th August. Here’s a snippet of what some of the crews have been up to …..

Will we ever see Karam going flat out in the EVO 8?

That will be the million ringgit question in Kuantan if his rally goes the way of his testing in Carey Island last weekend. “At the start - on the 3, 2,1 countdown the output shaft broke” said Karam.

Fans of the rally ace will be heaving a collective “aiyooo” we are sure but worry not. Repairs are underway on the NZ purchased Mitsubishi, the dog box is being replaced with a standard gearbox. Karam hopes to take the car out this weekend to get a few runs. It will be his last opportunity to set the car up for the rally as the local rounds do not feature a shakedown for cars.

Team Karamjit Motorsports will be only entering one car this round of the Championship and Karam has also been busy trying to secure sponsorship for the 2008 season. Ultimately the team intends to run three cars – the four wheel drive Evo 8 along with two other front wheel drive cars that have been built and prepared in-house.

In between all this, the 3 time APRC champion has been busy with commercial shoots. Currently he is on set for a Proton China commercial and immediately after the rally he will be driving in another commercial for release in the Indian Market.

He will be sure to keep his eye on the prize though as only 8 points separate him from his closest contender Kan Chee Hong for the Championship title. Determined to increase his lead in the Championship and erase the disappointment in Johor, rally fans can expect flashes of driving brilliance from the man himself.

Where for thou art Bernard and Suresh?

The Perodua M5 Rally team will be missing Bernard Chin and Suresh Sharma for Round 4 in Kuantan, with both citing work commitments in China for their absence. Jumping into their seats are Arish Qutb of Saladin Rallying fame and Mohd Izwan Gian. Perodua M5 are the runaway leader of the team championship race and a good finish will only consolidate their lead. An unprecedented 5th consecutive Team Award would certainly put a smile on Uncle Gary’s face.

All 3 cars had problems in Johor - Kan Chee Hong’s Myvi 4WD had a technical problem with the rear differential and thus it effectively ran as a front-wheel drive car, Nandakumar’s Myvi had wiring problems on Leg 1 and the Viva didn’t even get to see the finish of SS1.

The season break should have given the mechanics plenty of opportunity to sort out the gremlins and fans will be looking forward to seeing the Viva-Doc Lim combo in action.

The stages in Kuantan this time are the same as the final round of the 2006 Championship – on their last run through they took 4th, 5th and 6th positions overall so they will surely be gunning to better the feat.

A word from Paul Russel…

The most important thing we have been doing since MRC Round 3 is searching, so far unsuccessfully, for a new title sponsor. TNT Logistics partnered with us for this year, and probably for many more, but the relationship had to be broken on the insistence of TNT's CEO in Europe. No one was made happy by this. TNT's Managing Director in Malaysia was very pleased with the way the relationship was developing, but was left with no choice but to stop the funding.

We'll keep searching, and we'll keep rallying on a shoestring budget.

On a more positive note, James was invited by Pennzoil Malaysia to race the team's lead car in this year's Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MME). I was invited to manage the entry, and in turn, I asked my wife to look after the timing on the pit wall. So it became a family affair.

The car was a Proton Satria GTi, entered in Class 'B'. The other drivers were Mohd. Faizal Shamsuddin - well known in rally circles, and Akina Teo.

Comprehensive plans for testing were thrown out the window when a rear brake problem took several sessions to correct, and once this was done, the engine seized! So the team went into qualifying somewhat blind, and with almost forty cars vying for 26 places on the grid, we were also somewhat nervous. But once the three drivers'
times were aggregated, the car qualified 16th in class.

On race day, it was clear no one was expecting miracles. It was very much a learning exercise, especially given the lack of testing. But, amazingly, the car ran like clockwork. Most pit stops were only four minutes, and the longest eight. In the 12 hours, the car covered 250 laps and finished 5th in class. Perhaps more suprisingly, given that there was a fine array of Porsches, BMWs, Evos, etc., in the Open and 'A' classes, was the fact the car finished 18th overall. To his credit, James set the fastest lap in Class 'B'.

And now that we've been bitten by the endurance racing bug, we're starting to plan our own entry for future years. Le Mans here we come. Well, maybe not just yet!

--paul

< Back