The two-car rally team, managed and entered by SR Motorsport, came away from last weekend's MRC Round 2, with wins in Classes N4 & A8. With the resulting points tally, the team remains second overall in the Team Championship, and maintains its lead in the two classes.

Scoring points for the first time this year, rookie French driver Thomas Duroyon was delighted with his class win. A strong drive in this, only his second event, also saw him take seventh overall. Accompanied by experienced Malaysian co-driver Gulvinder Singh Gill, Thomas experienced few problems during the event, the worst being a large rock which punched a hole in the Subaru Impreza's floor, just behind the co-driver's seat.

Less lucky were the team's number one pairing of James Russell and Douglas Pickering. Despite a malfunctioning rear differential, which essentially meant the 4WD Turbo Impreza was running as a front wheel drive car throughout the event, they managed some top five times during leg one. But, midway through leg two, a power-steering pipe came loose, resting itself on the ultra-hot turbo, where it burned through and spilled fluid down the hot exhaust. Hearing loud popping sounds, the crew wisely pulled over on a road section, to find the engine bay on fire. A couple of extinguishers were needed to douse
the flames, but fortunately the damage was limited to the crews nerves and some blackened paintwork.

Thanks to this year's Malaysian Rally Championship "SupeRally" rules, the crew was able to re-enter the event following repairs, and was able to take the finish ramp and the class win.

As Team Manager Paul Russell said "The fact that one of your cars is on fire is not something you want to hear from a crew member, but luckily the damage was minimal. The fast action of the crew, and of following competitors, saved the day. Because the grass under the car had also caught fire, the result could have been much worse.

"Overall though, this was a satisfying weekend" he continued "Thomas is rapidly getting to grips with Malaysia's tricky plantation roads - which were quite slippery in places - and with more testing planned for the next few weeks, he and Gill should continue to score good points for the team. James was hampered both by the rear diff. problem and the very narrow and twisty stages which favored the smaller and more nimble cars."

The SR Motorsport team is strongly supported by TNT Malaysia, a company which since its inception in 1976, has strategically developed into a leading business-to-business express delivery and express linked logistics services and solutions provider in the country. TNT Malaysia?s operations consist of three international gateways at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Penang and Johor Bahru, as well as a 250,000 sq ft National Distribution Centre in Shah Alam, Selangor - the largest TNT facility in Asia - and a network of 10 branches nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak.

TNT Malaysia is also the nucleus of TNT?s Asia Road Network which promises secure day-definite transportation solutions through Asia. Inaugurated in 2005, TNT Malaysia takes responsibility for TNT?s main Security Control and Command Centre in overseeing and tracking the entire road network operations in Asia.

The Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) consists of five-rounds, covering the whole of Peninsular Malaysia. The team's next event will be Malaysia's premier rally - a round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship - which takes place in the southern State of Johor, from August 10th to 12th

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