V.V. Subrahmanyam
MOTOR SPORTS / Team MRF’s Taguchi in second spot
JOHOR BAHRU (MALAYSIA): Cody Crocker of Australia beat the heat, humidity and sharp showers late in the day, to stay ahead of the other contenders after stage eight of the 14 stages, on the first day of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship in the palm groove plantations here on Saturday.
Crocker, with co-diver Ben Atkinson in a Subaru Impreza WRX, finished the day with a timing of 1.50.56 with the strongest challenger Katsuhiko Taguchi of Japan (co-driver Mark Stacey) of Team MRF in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, in second place with 1:51.26.
Jussi Valimaki with Jarkko Kalliolepo (1.53.03) was in third spot.
Young Gaurav Gill of Team MRF, with Karl Francis as his co-driver, in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo came in with a timing of 1:57.11.
Satisfying day
But overall, it was another satisfying day for Crocker who felt that the last two stages were very slippery as the rain left the track treacherous.
“The car was very good and we had to do a lot of guess work at the bends. We hope to do well on Sunday,” he said at the end of the day.
By his own confession, Valimaki did not have a good outing as he was short on confidence.
“The car had a few problems. There was some suspension glitch. Obviously, it is very difficult to catch up with Crocker. But there is no question of giving up,” he said.
From an Indian perspective, Gaurav’s performance was a disappointment; but he is taking part in only his second leg in the circuit, that too with a new car.
“Things did not go as per plan and I was having problems with the navigator who was taking too much time to adjust to my driving. Apparently, I cannot push him too far,” said Gaurav.
Naren Kumar’s performance was creditable considering that he is taking part in the Malaysian rally for the first time.
The standings (after eight stages):
1. Cody Crocker (co-driver Ben Atkinson) 1:50.56
2. Katsuhiko Taguchi (Mark Stacey) 1:51.26. 3. Jussi Valimaki (Jarkko Kalliolepo) 1:53.03. 4. Naren Kumar (Jeff Judd) 1:55.00. 5. Rifat Sungkar (co-driver Mohamad Herkusuma) 1:55.12, 6. Gaurav Gill (co-driver Karl Francis) 1:57.11, 7. Brian Green (co-driver Fleur Pedersen) 1:59.49, 8. Subhan Aksa (co-driver Hade Mboi) 2:06.26, 9.Karamjit Singh (co-driver Jagdev Singh) Did not finish (DNF), 10. Akbar Hadianto (co-driver Arianto Sjarief) DNF.
